THE GOVERNMENT has won a motion of confidence in the Dáil.
The coalition led my Micheál Martin secured 85 confidence votes, while 66 TDs voted against the government.
One Independent TD, Matt Shanahan abstained.
Four TDs who had left the parliamentary parties of the Coalition backed the Government: Marc MacSharry, Joe McHugh, Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello.
Four Independent TD also voted with the Government: Michael Lowry, Cathal Berry, Peter Fitzpatrick and Seán Canney.
A no-confidence motion has originally been called by Sinn Féin after the government last week lost its majority in the Dáil.
However, the government then chose to table a motion of confidence, allowing it to speak for longer prior to the vote.
During such speeches, the Taoiseach strongly defended the Government's record on housing and health.
He also dismissed Sinn Féin suggestions that the Government is "out of road". Mr Martin said the coalition has disagreements but works hard to overcome them and to honour its "ambitious and achievable" programme of work.
"We each have our priorities and remain separate parties. This is how successful coalition governments across Europe work," Mr Martin said.
Hitting out at Mary Lou McDonald's party, the Taoiseach said:
"Shouting ‘not enough’, ‘more’ and ‘what-about’ represents an approach to politics that is, at its heart, deeply dishonest."
Ms McDonald had told the Dáil that change is needed now more than ever.
The Government is "out of touch, clearly out of ideas and now out of time", she said, and accused the Taoiseach of having "scrambled" to get a majority to win the confidence motion.
She said that the Government "is coming apart at the seams" and called on it to "go now".
She particularly targeted its performance on housing, healthcare and the cost of living.
"Each of these failures individually would warrant sacking the lot of you", she said. "Three strikes and you're out", she added. "Done, dusted".
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said she has never had confidence in the Government, and called on it to go.
She said that the coalition parties had failed to deliver, including the Green Party, which she said shares many of the Labour Party's aspirations.
She called the lack of any mention of climate in the Sinn Féin no-confidence motion as a "strange omission", and criticised the tone of "mock outrage, and mock anger" in the debate, insisting that she wants to be constructive.
Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said that the housing crisis was caused by policy choices made by successive governments "all of which have included Fine Gael".
Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy accused the Government of representing those who are profiting off the cost-of-living crisis, rather than low and middle income families.
