Martin: No Dáil return without election date

Politicians should not return after Christmas unless the Taoiseach sets a definite date for the next general election, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said.

Leo Varadkar is under mounting pressure to agree an election date with Mr Martin after the Opposition leader identified Easter as a “natural end” to the current Dáil.

He has written to Mr Varadkar seeking a meeting to secure an election date, as he says it is “not tenable” that the Dáil would continue on an indefinite week-to-week basis.

However, Tánaiste Simon Coveney accused Mr Martin of being “slow off the mark” and said the Taoiseach had sought a clear election timeline 18 months ago.

Although Mr Martin favours an April election and Mr Varadkar has pinpointed May as the optimal time to go to the polls, there has been speculation about a snap February election.

The threat of a motion of no-confidence in either a minister or the Government also remains, and could be tabled by one of the other political parties when the Dáil returns in January.

Mr Varadkar could meet his Fianna Fáil counterpart as early as this week and a spokesman for the Taoiseach confirmed it will take place in the first week in January at the latest.

Mr Martin said he was offering a orderly wind-down of the Dáil to avoid “tactics, manoeuvring, and opportunism” such as the recent no-confidence vote in Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.

“It is not tenable that the Dáil will continue on an indefinite week-to-week basis, so there has to be certainty and clarity brought to the situation,” he said.

Mr Martin said there are 34 sitting days between January and Easter and these should be used to pass important legislation, including a bill on mandatory disclosure, measures to extend medical cards, and laws on online transparency.

“Easter is a natural end for this Dáil. I don’t think it is credible we would reconvene after Easter,” he told Newstalk’s On the Record.

In the time that is left, it is a tidying-up period really, if we are honest.

Mr Martin last week wrote to the Taoiseach calling for him to do the “responsible thing” and end speculation around the dissolution date of the Dáil.

One Government source hit out at Mr Martin, claiming the party had promised not to leak his letter but it had nonetheless appeared in the media.

“It’s classic Fianna Fáil, saying one thing and doing the other,” the source said.

Mr Coveney said Fine Gael is focused on timing a general election “that’s in the best interest of the country” instead of playing party politics.

“Eighteen months ago, the Taoiseach wrote to Micheál Martin requesting that they agree a date in May, to provide stability. So Micheál Martin is a bit slow off the mark,” said Mr Coveney.