Varadkar narrowly wins no confidence vote to avoid general election

Leo Varadkar’s Government has narrowly avoided being dragged into a general election in Ireland after winning a crunch confidence vote in parliament. The confidence motion in the Dáil was won with 86 TDs backing the coalition and 67 voting against – a margin of 19 votes. This afternoon’s vote was triggered by the Irish Labour Party’s no confidence motion in Government. Defeat would have resulted in a general election.

Labour had tabled a motion of no confidence in the Government over the ending of the evictions ban earlier this week.

Following a Government amendment, members of the Dail vote on a motion that “reaffirms its confidence in the Government” instead.

Before the no confidence vote took place in the Irish parliament, Mr Varadkar launched a furious attack against Labour.

He said: “I know that Labour does not have confidence in the Government. But it seems to me that it has long lost confidence in itself.

“It does not know whether to stand over its decisions in Government and say that it would do it all again, for the good of the country, if given the chance or whether like a character in the Crucible it should recant, confess, purge itself of its own past in the hope of being embraced back into the fold by the wider Left and so spare itself more fire.

“It is caught in a trap of its own making. It was in Government not too long ago and held the housing brief and the public expenditure brief for five of the past 12 years.”

The Taoiseach said “every party in this House seems to believe the housing crisis was terribly mismanaged, except for the periods when they were in government”, before adding this must be “why Sinn Féin is so happy”.

He said: “Extending the moratorium for a few more months or until the end of January or for another year or even two, would have been the easier political decision to make – the path of least resistance.

“But it wouldn’t have been the right one. It would have made homelessness worse, just at a later point. That’s not a solution.”

Mr Varadkar also accused opposition TDs of “political theatre” and “performative anger”, insisting: “This is a good Government.

“I believe the housing crisis cuts so deep because it offends our sense of fairness, our fundamental belief in what Government is for and what the State should do. Housing is a basic need and a human right.

“Family homelessness, in particular, shakes our faith in our Republic, which is founded on the idea that all children should be cherished equally.”

He claimed solving the housing crisis is “one of the greatest political challenges of our time”.

“We have to lead with ideas that are realistic and implementable, and we need to demonstrate convincingly that we understand the scale of the crisis and that we care about those experiencing its consequences.

“My only criticism of proceedings in this House is that too often it allows critics of the Government to show passion and indignation without presenting new ideas, let alone having them tested.

“So, instead of honesty about the scale of the problem and what can be achieved given the constraints, we get quick fixes, simple solutions, populist rhetoric, politicians claiming to care more than others, even conspiracy theories about the causes of the crisis and the demonisation of those who are working every day to relieve it.

“It is political theatre. Performative anger. Performance art. And I think more and more people are starting to see through it.”

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