The Government survived a confidence motion voted on in Dáil Éireann on Tuesday by 92 votes to 78, despite the loss of two Healy-Rae independent votes that had previously been supporting the Government.

The debate witnessed the announcement from Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae that he would tender an immediate resignation from his ministerial position, with responsibility for forestry, farm safety and horticulture in the Department of Agriculture.

Michael Healy-Rae TD had secured the role in return for his and his brother Danny Healy-Rae TD’s votes in Dáil Éireann in January 2025.

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Healy-Rae’s 15-month spell as junior minister ended dramatically on Tuesday evening when he announced from the Government benches that he would be “voting no confidence in the leader of the country and I will be tendering my resignation as a Minister of State from now”.

“There are farmers that are really suffering so much at present. There are agricultural contractors that are really suffering. There are people that cried at the protests and these were workers and respectable people,” he said after a week of fuel price-related disruptions.

Other Government-supporting independent deputies including Tipperary north TD Michael Lowry, Meath east TD Gillian Toole and Dublin Bay north TD Barry Heneghan held the Government line.

Speculation suggests that responsibility for forestry, farm safety and horticulture could now be merged into Minister of State Noel Grealish’s portfolio.

The Galway west Independent TD currently holds responsibility for food promotion, new markets, research and development in the Department of Agriculture.

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon commended the outgoing junior minister as a “good colleague in the Department of Agriculture” but had warned that a failure from the Dáil to vote confidence in the Government would delay the introduction of last weekend’s €500m fuel cost relief package.