Dáil To Vote On Motion Of No Confidence In Murphy

A motion of no confidence in Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy will be voted on tonight as Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin claims that the government will now face admitting that their housing policy, as seen in their Rebuilding Ireland plan published two years ago, is not working.

Minister Murphy has come under serious pressure in the last year as the housing crisis in the capital has worsened,culminating in the removal of housing activists from Frederick Street two weeks ago by masked Gardaí and an unknown private security force.

There is speculation that Fine Gael Minister of State Catherine Byrne will either abstain or support the Sinn Féin motion as she has vehemently opposed a proposal by Mr Murphy's department of a new not-for-profit rental accommodation on the St Michael's House site in Inchicore, Dublin, the first of its kind in the history of the State. She opposed the plans claiming that crime and anti social behaviour needed to be dealt with in the area, and said that the proposed low rental accommodation would not benefit families in the area.

Fianna Fáil has instructed it's TD's to abstain from the vote. Mr Murphy has hit back at the motion calling it a "stunt" by Sinn Féin and has criticised their lack of solutions to solving the housing crisis.