Taoiseach and Micheál Martin hoping to discuss election date this week
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he is hopeful of meeting with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin later this week to decide when a general election will be held.
Mr Varadkar confirmed he has written to Mr Martin setting out his proposed agenda of work before the Dáil should be dissolved.
Mr Varadkar said he reflected on the timing of the election over the Christmas holidays but was not willing to reveal his thinking ahead of that meeting with Mr Martin.
“I have reflected, it is not my priority today. But yes I did reflect on it over the Christmas break.
"I have responded in writing to Micheál Martin and we hope to meet later this week to follow up on that,” he said.
He said that his focus for today was on other issues, including the situation in hospitals, developments in Northern Ireland and the search for a missing fisherman in the southeast.
Mr Varadkar dismissed suggestions that the demands he has asked of Mr Martin in his letter were too high.
"He set out his position in his letter and I set out my position in mine, which I sent just before Christmas. The next step is for us to meet and discuss it and it's intended that that will happen later this week," he said.
In his letter to Micheál Martin sent on December 23rd, Mr Varadkar set out a number of issues that he wants resolved before agreeing to an election date.
They include reforms of the Local Property Tax (LPT), concluding investigations into voting and fobbing-in at the Oireachtas, and developing a new system for Dáil expenses.
