Tánaiste Micheál Martin has dismissed claims from Fianna Fáil Senator Mary Fitzpatrick that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has found a “damascus-like” interest in housing.
The Taoiseach said that it was “normal and natural” for him to meet housing stakeholders in the first few weeks of office.
Senator Fitzpatrick appeared on Virgin Media’s Tonight Show on Tuesday evening and appeared to criticise Fine Gae’s approach to housing.
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She said: “It is great that Leo Varadkar in his new role is now finding a road-to- Damascus-type interest in the housing crisis that he presided over for, whatever, the 10 years that he was there.”
Ms Fitzpatrick also said that it has “taken Fianna Fáil’s involvement to change the housing policy”.
Asked about the comments following a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Tánaiste said that he had not heard the comments.
Mr Martin said: “The Taoiseach and I and Eamon [Ryan], the entire government, were focused on housing from the get go, as manifested in the development of the Housing for All plan.
“I don’t think anyone has made a damascus like return. Things get said in politics.”
The Taoiseach, meanwhile, said that Ms Fitzpatrick had clarified her remarks and that he believed it was “normal and natural” for him to meet stakeholders in housing, health and other areas.
Mr Varadkar noted that he will now chair the Cabinet sub-committee on housing for the first time in two-and-a-half-years and it was important to spend time “getting abreast of all the issues”.
When asked about the comments by the Irish Mirror, Senator Fitzpatrick said that her remarks were “a bit flippant” and “spontaneous”.
She said: “The interviewer was pushing me on whether there was some sort of a dynamic, was it about the optics. I responded instinctively, probably not as diplomatically as I could have.”
Ms Fitzpatrick’s remarks were met with fury by Fine Gael politicians.
One Fine Gael source said: "Mary seems to be suffering from a convenient case of amnesia when it comes to how the housing crisis was caused.
“She is the perfect example of what Fianna Fáil was like before the crash. There is no accountability for their part in the housing crisis.”
Another Fine Gael politician also said that Ms Fitzpatrick had a “convenient case of amnesia about Fianna Fáil crashing the economy”.
Another Fine Gael TD argued that the Government needs to “work together on housing rather than against each other”.
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