Tensions downplayed after Fianna Fáil senator's comments on Varadkar's housing record 

Senator Mary Fitzpatrick said her remarks were 'flippant' and she was not as diplomatic as they could have been. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have sought to downplay emerging tensions over the perceived "hijacking" of the housing issue by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

A prominent Fianna Fáil senator has offered to apologise to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar after she criticised his record on housing over the past decade.

Dublin senator Mary Fitzpatrick appeared on the Tonight Show on Virgin Media Television on Tuesday night and said it was great that Mr Varadkar had found a “road-to-Damascus-type interest” in housing after a decade in office.

"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,” she said in a clip she herself retweeted on social media.

"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"

- @votemaryfitz on today's housing summit#TonightVMTV pic.twitter.com/aDStJzEJ5k

— TonightVMTV (@TonightVMTV) January 10, 2023

However, asked about her comments at an event at Grangegorman on Wednesday morning, Ms Fitzpatrick conceded her comments were “flippant” and were made late at night.

“It was a spontaneous comment late at night. And I suppose it was flippant and I probably shouldn't have been as flippant about it because it is a very serious issue,” she said.

“The interviewer was pushing me on whether there was some sort of a dynamic here, was it about the optics enough. So I suppose I responded instinctively. Probably not as diplomatically as I could have,” she added.

Leo Varadkar. Picture: Collins 

She said it was an issue that she and her Government colleagues have put very significant effort into.

Asked if she would apologise to Mr Varadkar, she said absolutely if that was what he wanted.

“Absolutely, If he… I wasn't aware that he was upset about it,” she said.

Responding, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said he has known Ms Fitzpatrick for nearly 20 years and knows how serious she is about the delivery of housing.

He said the relationship between the parties in Government could not be stronger than it is and they are committed to the delivery of a record number of new homes.