The programme for Government commits to addressing the ongoing and shameful homelessness crisis.

The Green Party and Fianna Fáil when in opposition supported our Bill to halt evictions. In the context of Covid-19 the Government was forced, rightly, to bring in an eviction ban because making people homeless is totally incompatible with public health, yet the Government has now allowed that ban to lapse.

We sought to bring forward a Bill in our Private Members' slot next week which is essentially the eviction ban, but we have been told that staff in the Dáil, through no fault of their own I want to stress, cannot process it because they have been overrun with things such as the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which the Government rammed through with a guillotine, collapsing the normal sequence of legislative scrutiny. The Government has done this on multiple occasions, and as a result the staff are not able to process our Bill for Private Members' time. The Bill would seek to reinstate the eviction ban to prevent people going into homelessness during Covid-19.

Thank you.

In the same way as it facilitated its own Bills, which it has rammed through, will the Government facilitate us on this critical issue to address the problem of homelessness?

If the Deputy facilitated the Chair it would be helpful to other Deputies.

I am informed by the Deputy's own Whip of some of the details on this. Unfortunately, the Bills Office only became aware of this today or yesterday.

Monday.

There is another fundamental issue, which is that 17 other Bills are due for a hearing and it is not possible. What would we say to the originators of the 17 other Bills as to why-----

They do not have Private Members' time next week.

As I said, I have no objection to the ordering of the business of the House. It is an issue for the Business Committee. I would quite happily welcome further debate on this critical issue and it is critical to review what is happening with regard to the numbers. Have we seen a spike in evictions? Is the mechanism for those who face eviction because of financial circumstances due to Covid providing the right protection? I would welcome that debate. It is a matter for the Business Committee to manage the ordering of the House-----

Which is run by the Government.

-----with the Bills Office.