There are many reasons People Before Profit will be supporting the no-confidence motion in the Government tomorrow. The most important and powerful of those at the moment is the Government's absolutely heartless and cruel decision to allow the eviction of thousands of families, individuals and, worst of all, children, into homelessness with its decision to lift the eviction ban. In the vast majority of those cases, those people have nowhere to go. Emergency accommodation is not available to them and certainly not, in most cases, anywhere near where they live or their children go to school. They have no social and affordable housing available to them because they are usually too far down the list. Affordable private rented accommodation is not available to them because rents are at absolutely extortionate levels. Housing assistance payment, HAP, support does not go anywhere near meeting rent levels and the so-called mitigation measures the Government has been trying to trumpet as an excuse for lifting the eviction ban are either not in place at all or are completely not functioning in any serious, effective way, such as the purchase in situ scheme or the mooted cost-rental purchase scheme.

It is utterly shameful that some Independents - so-called - in this House are horse trading with the Government over local issues that have nothing to do with the homelessness and housing crisis in exchange for potentially supporting the Government to put thousands of families and individuals into homelessness. They should be ashamed of themselves. The Green Party, which in its pre-election statement said it was "against evictions into homelessness", is going to vote and has voted with the Government to put thousands of people into homelessness. Some in the Opposition say the eviction ban should be kept temporarily. We will, of course, support those efforts but People Before Profit's view is that all of the approximate 750,000 people who live in private rented accommodation should have security of tenure. If they do nothing wrong, they should not be evicted, as is the case in most of Europe. Because the Taoiseach is clearly, grimly determined to press ahead with this cruel and heartless measure to allow the eviction of thousands of people, the Cost of Living Coalition is calling for people to gather outside the gates of the Dáil at 1 p.m. this weekend to protest and resist the Government's eviction ban. We will also say to people that anybody who overholds has every right to do so, given they have nowhere else to go. Are those facing eviction, who have nowhere to go, not right at this stage to protest and indeed overhold? Would the Taoiseach meekly go into homelessness if he was faced with an unfair no-fault eviction?

Like the Deputy, in my constituency service, I deal with housing queries all the time. Probably one quarter or one third of the queries that come through my constituency office are now related to housing. Every circumstance is different. We try to give people the best advice, whether that is advice we give them or advice with the help of the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, or advice from Threshold. Certainly, for anyone who has had a notice to quit served on them and has nowhere to go and no other option, I would absolutely advise them to seek the best advice they can get, ideally, not from politicians, but from groups like Threshold, FLAC or others which can outline to them what their best options are and what the consequences are of the different options.

That is what I would say. Every case is different. Every case should be treated individually and sympathetically and people should be given the best advice, in their interests, not in the political interests of any politician or party.

The motion on Wednesday morning is a motion of confidence in the Government. It is being tabled by the three party leaders in coalition. As the Deputy knows, this Government has a majority. With the help of Independents, we have a majority above what is required; a supermajority, if you will. It is up to Independents to decide for themselves whether they wish to vote confidence in the Government or wish to abstain. They should not be browbeaten by the Deputy in that regard.

However, the Deputy should also be honest about the effect of a motion of confidence. If the motion of confidence fails tomorrow morning and if the Opposition is successful, the Dáil will be dissolved tomorrow evening. There will be an election some time in April. The Dáil will not meet again until some time in May and the eviction ban will have long lapsed since then. That is a simple fact. The Deputy should not try to pretend that by voting no confidence in the Government tomorrow morning, he will somehow stop the eviction ban from lapsing. In fact, the Deputy will make it impossible for the ban to lapse.

If this Government were to be dissolved, it would at last open up the possibility that we could take the sort of radical emergency measures that are necessary to address the housing crisis and finally depart from the failed strategy, pursued by successive Fine Gael governments, of favouring the interests of speculators, developers, vulture funds and corporate landlords, who are profiteering and benefiting from the housing misery that tens of thousands of people are suffering. I not only urge people to vote no confidence in this Government but, more importantly, given there probably are the numbers, to do as we did with the water charges, that is, to get out on the street where people power undoes the terrible things a Government is trying to impose on them, because they have no choice. The Taoiseach did not answer the question. If he were faced with eviction, had nowhere to go, did not have the money to afford extortionate rents, was not high enough up the social housing list or, indeed, was not eligible for social housing and did not have the money to pay the unaffordable house prices, would he meekly accept he had to be evicted into homelessness or would he be justified in overholding and getting out on the streets to protest against a Government that would allow that to happen?

I answered the Deputy's question. I said that every case is individual and people should seek the best advice they can get from organisations such as Threshold, Free Legal Advice Centres and others. In some cases, people overhold, and in some cases the landlord will accept that, may say he or she understands they have not found a place yet and will let them overhold as long as they continue to pay the rent. That happens all the time. It is not something new. It has been happening for as long as I can remember. Some cases go to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, where both sides are heard and then there is a determination order. Only then can it go to court. The only place in Ireland where an eviction order can actually be handed down, in Ireland, is in court. That is the system. I give the best advice I can to anybody who comes to me for advice.

The Deputy is wrong on one thing. If the motion of confidence tomorrow fails and the Opposition is successful, the Government is not dissolved. The Dáil is dissolved and that means the eviction ban will lapse anyway. The Deputy will have to fight for his seat; we all will. However, if the polls are to be believed, the Deputy will probably be the only one to survive as most of the People Before Profit seats will be taken by Sinn Féin.

Deputy Boyd Barrett does not have to fight for his seat. We do.

The Deputy will probably be the only one to survive. All Sinn Féin wishes to do-----

Will the Taoiseach survive?

Absolutely.

The Taoiseach might have to fight as well.

I have increased my vote in every election I have run in.

The Taoiseach has a crystal ball.

I have always taken the first or second seat, despite what people may say.

That will not be much consolation to those who are homeless.

The Deputy will see one of two things: the re-election of this Government or a Government led by Sinn Féin that will end the eviction ban in January anyway.

We will not.

What is the point in the Opposition's motion? It is just ego.