Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin has said that staff in his party's headquarters committed his name to a National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) feminist manifesto that pledges to introduce an emergency rent freeze.
Mr Martin is among 14 Fianna Fáil election candidates and 11 Fine Gael candidates – including Cabinet minister Josepha Madigan - who have signed up to the NWCI manifesto.
The organisation which advocates equality for women has asked election candidates to sign up to the manifesto which outlines '10 key asks for women's equality'.
Top of the list of ten issues on the manifesto is a bid to "End the Housing and Homelessness Crisis" and beneath that is a pledge to "Introduce an emergency rent freeze".
This appears to directly contravene the position of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
Fine Gael oppose a rent freeze and earlier this month Fianna Fáil published legal advice stating that the roll out of a rent freeze would be unconstitutional.
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A spokeswoman for Fianna Fáil said "The policy objectives of the NWCI manifesto are objectives that we share, subject to the constitutional, legal and fiscal challenges faced by any Government. Fianna Fáil's manifesto is the definitive statement of party policy."
According to the NWCI website on Friday evening, the 14 Fianna Fáil candidates who have signed up to the #FemGen Manifesto for Women are Rita McInerney (Clare), Sandra Murphy (Cork North Central), Mícheál Martin (Cork South Central), Charlie McConalogue (Donegal), Mary Fitzpatrick (Dublin Central), Deirdre Conroy (Dublin Rathdown), Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central), Ollie Crowe (Galway West), Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly ), Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath), Orla Leyden (Roscommon-Galway), Shane Ellis (Sligo-Leitrim), Sandra Farrell (Tipperary) and Eddie Mulligan (Waterford).
Similarly, the 11 Fine Gael candidates that have signed up to the #FemGen manifesto are Karen Coakley (Cork South West), Catherine Noone (Dublin Bay South), Deirdre Duffy (Dublin Central),
Vicki Casserly (Dublin-Mid-West), Neale Richmond and Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown), Ellen O'Malley Dunlop (Dublin South West), Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dun Laoghaire), Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly), Noel French (Meath West) and Mary Newman Julian (Tipperary).
A Fine Gael spokesman said that, notwithstanding the constitutional issues likely to arise, there is no evidence to suggest that a rent freeze would not impact on supply.
The party said it is committed to introducing legislation "to provide for tenancies of long-term or indefinite duration which will provide for much greater stability and security for tenants."
