She did not actually say that.

It is not agreed.

It is now very obvious that the Government is desperately trying to avoid a situation where we will have a straight vote on extending the eviction ban, or not, as proposed by the Sinn Féin Bill. Nothing reflects more the absolute determination, or even desperation, of the Government to go this course more than that. The Taoiseach referred to a reasoned amendment. Has that been accepted by the Office of the Ceann Comhairle? What is it? I do not believe we have seen it.

So it has not been accepted yet, a Cheann Comhairle.

That is high for the Garda.

Fifty-eight schools in dire need of new buildings, many of which were due to go to tender or construction, have been told that the vital projects are on hold again. Many of these school communities have been waiting for decades. In my own constituency, Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire campaigned for 20 years for its new building. It was at the final stage of the process when it received the devastating news that the project was on hold. Imagine the anger having been told for two decades that the school was a priority to …

This afternoon, the Dáil will vote on the Government's decision to lift the eviction ban in nine days' time. Every Deputy has a clear choice to make: to back a Government decision that will escalate the unprecedented housing emergency or to protect working families, single people and pensioners who, because of this decision, will lose the roof over their heads. I ask the Taoiseach again: where are people meant to go? Where are the 3,000 households whose eviction notices will kick in from 1 April meant to go? It is …

The Taoiseach's Government came to office telling us that it was the Government that would sort out housing, but nothing changed; in fact, matters worsened. Deputy Varadkar came into office as Taoiseach last December. He said he would be the Taoiseach to sort this out, but nothing changed; in fact, matters worsened. There is no urgency and no ambition, only dithering and failure. However, the Government's determination to end the eviction ban and its insistence that it happen now, its urgency on this matter, stands…

Extend the eviction ban.

Where do they go?

What engagement has been had with church leaders on their respective contributions to the mother and baby homes redress scheme? What progress has been made on this matter? Laura Murphy, the daughter of a mother and baby home survivor, penned an open letter to the Taoiseach, which was published online yesterday. In her letter she called on him to ensure that the Catholic Church contributes to redress and is brought into a meaningful process of truth, reconciliation and reparation. She called for all mother and baby …

I want to add to that contribution in the same vein. The Minister for Justice commissioned an independent study into familicide and domestic homicide almost four years ago. The fair procedure strand of that process was concluded before the study was submitted to the Minister last summer but the report is still on the desk unpublished. The programme for Government, as the Taoiseach knows, commits to legislating to introduce domestic homicide reviews. A system such as this was established in the North in 2020 and a s…

Deputy Boyd Barrett has set out the case of being damned if you do and damned if you do not, and the horrible trap that people are caught in. The Cabinet committee for Government co-ordination meets in advance of the Cabinet meeting. The Taoiseach took the decision to end the eviction ban on 7 March so the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the associated officials would have met on 6 March. At that stage, did the Taoiseach have the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, figures? Was he aware …

Was the Minister at the meeting?

Did the Taoiseach have the RTB figures?

The Taoiseach just did that. He said there was accelerated-----

The agreement struck between the European Commission and the British Government on the protocol last month represents a real breakthrough and preserves protections for Ireland that were very hard won. The agreement safeguards the all-Ireland economy, preserves access to the European Single Market, protects the Good Friday Agreement and guarantees that there will be no return to a hard border on our island. It shields Ireland from the sharpest edges of Brexit. The deal is grounded in workable, durable solutions that…

The Government plans to lift the eviction ban in ten days. If it does this, where are the working families, single people and pensioners at risk of losing their homes meant to go? This question has been put to the Taoiseach repeatedly and those people still wait for an answer. Without putting any measures in place, the Government intends to remove this protection for renters during an unprecedented housing emergency. Homes to rent are at an all-time low, rents are at an all-time high, housing supply is too slow and…

When Deputy Varadkar re-entered the office of Taoiseach in December he said housing would be his priority. Now his first major housing decision is to put thousands of renters at risk of losing their homes. With his eyes wide open, the Taoiseach intends to lift the eviction ban knowing that it will spell disaster for so many. It will mean people losing their homes. It will mean some looking for homeless emergency accommodation that is not there. For others, it will mean sofa-surfing or moving back into the box room …

To protect renters, we need an extension of the eviction ban and we need Government pace and ambition. As a matter of fact, we need a new Government.