Homelessness campaigner Fr Peter McVerry has issued an apology to the Taoiseach after he received "unfortunate" and "inaccurate" information which suggested that Leo Varadkar had overruled Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien on extending the eviction ban.
Fr McVerry had made the claim during a radio interview on Monday.
In an interview with South East Radio, Fr McVerry said that his understanding was that Mr O'Brien had wanted to extend the ban and was acting in preparation for the same only to be "overridden by the Taoiseach".
He added: "And that is why there was no preparation made during the five-month ban for mitigating the effects for ending this ban."
Mr Varadkar subsequently told Newstalk Breakfast that the claim by Fr McVerry was "100% untrue" and that there was "zero evidence" to support it.
Subsequently, in an interview on The Neil Prendeville show on Cork's Red FM, Fr McVerry said that the information he had received was inaccurate.
"The phrase I was given was that the 'Taoiseach had overridden the minister.'
"In light of the Taoiseach's denial, which I accept as true, I believe that phrase was unfortunate and inaccurate suggesting as it does a conflict or dispute between the Taoiseach and the minister.
"So whatever the circumstances leading up to the decision to end the ban, which are now irrelevant as the decision has been made, I accept that the minister, along with the rest of the Cabinet and the Taoiseach, made the decision together to end the ban."
The Taoiseach has confirmed that his office contacted Fr McVerry yesterday to "set out the facts as they happened".
Mr Varadkar said an apology from Fr McVerry was not necessary and he himself has in past been given false information in good faith.
"I've believed it to be true and I've used it in the media and then found out it wasn't true and had to retract it," Mr Varadkar said.
He also said that he now wanted to move on from the controversy.
Fr McVerry said that his comments had proved to be a distraction from the real issues facing the country.
"Well, I want to put an end to this because it is a distraction from the real issue. The real issue is where do people go when they are evicted? So this is a distraction. Governments love distractions.
"The phrase that I was given was inaccurate. This is a clarification and an apology to the Taoiseach."
Earlier in the interview, he again expressed the belief that the decision to lift the ban was the worst in this Government's history and will bring a "tsunami" of misery.
Fr McVerry has described the ending of the eviction ban as a "horror movie for renters".
