Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin went toe-to-toe yesterday as by-election tensions spilled over into the Dail.
The Taoiseach endured a pasting from the Fianna Fail leader on the Government’s record on housing, which Mr Martin said showed the “ineptitude” of the Fine Gael chief.
Things got heated then as the Taoiseach lashed back, claiming Mr Martin was proposing solutions that “you know well” were unworkable.
It all led to an exasperated Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail saying it would be “a futile request” to ask for the blatant electioneering to be left outside the Dail.
Mr Martin raised a report in a national newspaper that spoke in very favourable terms about the Housing Minister.
The piece said Eoghan Murphy was about to get tough with councils who weren’t hitting social housing building targets.
Mr Martin added: “The media has been briefed by the Government that it will strip the housing powers of county and city councils to speed up the building of homes.
“Such sentiments have been expressed before and I remember in September 2018 when Deputy Murphy breathlessly threatened he would have recourse to emergency powers in the department to step in and take control of some local authority functions.
“It was clearly nothing more than bluff and bluster at that time.
“The briefing and media spin is incredibly cynical and deliberately timed because the Government is feeling the heat on the doorsteps during the by-elections over the housing crisis.
“To blame the councils is his response to camouflage his own ineptitude.” Mr Varadkar hit back: “There is something I would like to say because I think it is important, so perhaps it is possible to do so without interruption.
“I am really curious to hear Fianna Fail members raising the housing issue this week because I did not think they would, given the absolutely paper-thin nonsensical housing policies put forward by Deputy Martin at the Ogra Fianna Fail conference the other day.
“A full 600 days ago we were promised a comprehensive housing policy from Fianna Fail but we did not get it.
“What do we get? We get a made-up proposal in a Sunday Independent interview for a different VAT rate for certain types of housing even though anybody who has served in Government and anyone in this chamber should know this is contrary to the EU VAT directive.”
