Micheál Martin has said that Fianna Fáil staff committed the party to introducing an emergency rent freeze as demanded in a charity’s policy document, but that he will not pursue such a measure if in government. The Fianna Fáil leader last year called for the consideration of a rent freeze, but has since backed away from it citing legal advice. Mr Martin was one of a number of political figures who backed the NWCI’s manifesto which, among other things, called for an “emergency rent freeze”. When asked about this by Mr Dobson, Mr Martin said: “People from headquarters sent that over and that is something that they have dealt with. Mr Martin claimed that Mr Varadkar had planned it for the election to fall near the time the UK departed the EU.

Source: The Irish Times January 31, 2020 21:00 UTC