Micheál Martin: I will not be 'lecturing' Donald Trump on any issue
This article is part of a series based on the interview with Micheál Martin.
The Taoiseach has said he will not be "hectoring" or "lecturing" US president Donald Trump on any issue when he meets him in the White House for St Patrick's Day.
Mr Martin has confirmed that he will raise Ireland's cultural and economic relationship with the US, but will also be reiterating our stance in relation to Gaza and the need for a two-State solution.
He said the Government will not be "giving a running commentary on everything that happens with the White House every single day", despite a number of highly controversial announcements made by President Trump this week.
"President Trump is the legitimately elected president of the United States, he won a very good majority, and he has many issues to deal with in the United States. A lot of the politics is in the context of the American political situation, migration, fentanyl, lots of real issues there," he said.
This article is part of a series based on the interview with Micheál Martin.
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While an official invite has yet to be issued from the White House, Mr Martin stressed that he will be raising the trade interdependence between the US and Ireland with the US leader.
"Fundamentally, our relationship is multifaceted, it's economic, which is huge, 220,000 Irish jobs dependent on — and high-quality jobs — on US multinationals here in Ireland, that's an important aspect of it," said Mr Martin.
"There is a cultural relationship, there's the familial, there's the diaspora, and there's our own economic presence in America, where Irish companies are exporting a lot of goods to America and are creating jobs in America.
"So I will talk to him about that economic relationship and I will make the point about the interdependence of trade in the world, that the world is no longer binary.
"The economic relationship would be a key one that I would discuss with the President, the Irish connection, the degree to which Ireland adds value to American companies based here, in terms of their access to the European single market and in terms of their access to the Asian market."
On Ireland's stance on Gaza, which is at odds with Mr Trump's proposal to resettle Palestinians and develop a 'Riviera' in the Middle East. Mr Martin said: "Our position is well known."
"We've recognised the state of Palestine, we've intervened in the International Court in a proper, deliberate, legal way, as opposed to what the opposition were shouting and roaring for last year, which was incoherent and made no sense.
"So, I will take the opportunity to explain our position and how we believe the best way forward is in terms of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. We do believe it's a two-State solution.
"President Trump was right by the way; Gaza is hell on earth at the moment. I recall talking to the UN envoy who said to me that Gaza was described in 2011 as hell. And she was saying that in the context of now — this was some months ago — it is really hell on Earth."
But he added: "Going out hectoring and lecturing isn't going to achieve anything. Engaging with people and giving your perspective and listening, I think is far better and more effective."
The Government will look at everything again when it comes to housing, including abolishing rent pressure zones (RPZs), the Taoiseach has promised.
Signalling a major departure from current housing policy, Mr Martin said changes to entice more private market input as well as a full review of the rental market are now required.
He added that "a mistake" was made in relation to vilifying vulture funds in recent years and said pension funds have a role to play in housing.
"I'm prepared to look fundamentally at everything again, because we need higher volumes," Mr Martin said, adding that "nothing should be off the table".
In the Dáil both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste were this week accused of misleading the public over claims that 40,000 new homes would be built last year to “win votes” in the general election.
Instead, a total of 30,330 homes were built, a decrease of 6.7% on 2023, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Mr Martin believes the private market now needs to become more involved and controversial vulture funds should be encouraged to invest in property.
"We've got to look at the private market again, like the State is intervening everywhere, huge subsidies from the State, €6bn this year.
"So we simply have to get the private sector involved in apartment building, in greater rental supply. That means we have to look at everything to enable us to do that. Nothing should be off the table."
The Taoiseach said this has been identified as "our key weakness" during a series of internal meetings held with officials since he entered office.
"There's been a tendency in the debate in Ireland to attack funds, for example, pension funds.
"That has to change, and we have to create a stable environment that people, if they wish to invest in building and construction in rental, that they know this is the way it's going to be for the next five to six years."
Mr Martin added that the Government will be "going back to the Housing Commission chapter on rental" to examine changes that can be made.
The landmark Housing Commission report recommended that RPZs should be should be replaced with a 'rent reference' system that ties rates to local buildings of a similar quality. Mr Martin confirmed that the coalition is seriously considering this proposal.
While he said it is "very challenging" and would need "significant teasing through" because rents are high, it is a measure that the Government will be "examining".
"We have time to do this, we have until the end of this year to do it, In the sense when I say we have time, the RPZs are due to expire in 2025, you either extend them or you look at what the Housing Commission has proposed, which the Opposition were all in favour of or said they were.
"I know myself from experience, there's a lot more to do on terms of the detail working out of such an idea, and what would it mean for renters and so on. But I think what is essential is that there is a stable environment that people know what market they're investing into, that it's not going to change suddenly in 12 months time," Mr Martin said.
Mr Martin said an average annual target of 50,000 homes in the coming years was pledged by almost every party during the general election, but questioned how opposition parties would meet this target.
"The weakness in the election debate was, how do we get to 50,000 how do we get to 60,000 in 2025. Being honest, I saw nothing in the opposition programmes that suggested anything, I actually thought some of it would delay."
Micheál Martin has admitted that the Government was blindsided by an attempt by Michael Lowry's regional group to seek opposition speaking time.
The move to form a technical group, which has since been blocked by the Ceann Comhairle, sparked fury among the Opposition and caused the suspension of Dáil Éireann numerous times.
Asked about the controversy, Mr Martin said: "We didn't see this coming from the Regional Independent Group, and that would have annoyed us to some extent.
"They made it clear that they're going to support government through thick and thin, and they wanted access and so on. So there is an issue there, I accept that."
However, he added that one of the "regrettable aspects" has been "the degree to which people focus on personality and not on the more fundamental issue of rights of groups being formed".
"I say this not in the context of Michael Lowry anybody else, but stand back from it all. What happens in five years time when the general election happens? If two parties or three parties are short four TDs, just say, they can't form a government.
"There's four TDs on the opposition benches, they get the need for a government to be formed because they don't want the general election straight away after the one that's just being held. Why would they now support the government if it means they're going to lose significant speaking rights that they would otherwise enjoy?"
Mr Martin suggested that the matter had been "properly interrogated" by the media because the personality at the centre of the controversy "dominated the issue".
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