Taoiseach Micheál Martin has insisted that he did not laugh at anybody during his meeting with the US President last week.
Mr Martin was responding to the Sinn Féin leader who has accused him of sniggering at the housing crisis in the Oval Office.
During bitter Dáil exchanges Mary Lou McDonald branded the Taoiseach cowardly and obsequious when he met Donald Trump, saying he had made light of people's suffering.
The Taoiseach responded by saying that nobody was laughing at anyone.
He insisted that he had clearly stated in the Oval Office that housing was the number one issue in the country and more homes had to be built.
Micheál Martin contended that the Sinn Féin leader did not have the "courage or the guts" to go to the US for St Patrick's Day and he described her criticism of him as pathetic.
Both the Social Democrats and Labour also accused Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of misleading voters during the general election by continuing to claim that 40,000 homes would be completed last year.
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan said the Taoiseach's claims around housing are akin to a notorious Iraqi war army official who continuously denied his country was losing the war.
Mr O'Callaghan made the comparison with Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, also known as "Comical Ali", during the today's Dáil leaders' questions debate, telling the Taoiseach to clarify if he was told the figure "wasn't going to materialise".
Deputy O'Callaghan added that there is now a "mountain of evidence" that Government was aware the 40,000 housing target for last year would not be met.
Responding to the allegation, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said, amid heckling from some opposition TDs, that the figures contained in internal Department of Finance correspondence which cast doubt on the claim last October were widely available.
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Mr Martin said "you're making a big song and dance about" the figures, and said there were also "previous years [where] people said you wouldn't meet the targets" which later proved incorrect and he was adamant there was no attempt to mislead anyone.
The Taoiseach spoke this morning about the need to create certainty for private investors in an effort to increase the number of homes being built.
"I think generally, people feel we need about 50,000 (homes) a year," Mr Martin said.
"However, there has not been as sufficient a focus on how we get to 50,000 houses a year from where we are now, and that is why I articulated the need for more private sector investment in housing."
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the Taoiseach Micheal Martin finally accepted last year that 50,000 homes were required to be completed every year - a long held Labour Party view.
However she said the Government was still advancing old policies - describing the reformed Planning Bill as a "verbose missed opportunity".
Ireland 'does not have to accept housing failure' - Ó Broin
In its latest report, the Central Bank said fewer homes will be built over the next two years than it had forecast earlier, due to a fall in residential construction last year.
It now says there will be 35,000 houses and apartments built this year, rising to 40,000 next year and 44,000 in 2027.
Last year the bank said 70,000 homes need to be built annually over the next ten years to deal with housing shortfall and population growth.
In 2024 just over 30,000 houses and apartments were completed.
Sinn Féin Housing Spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has said the Central Bank report is "very concerning but not very surprising".
Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Ó Broin said he sent the report to Taoiseach Micheál Martin to ensure he would read it and could disclose what he was going to do.
He said Ireland "does not have to accept housing failure" and the Government does not have to let the prediction become a "self fulfilling" prophecy.
Deputy says Martin's visit to White House paved way for McGregor
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach has faced criticism by members of the Opposition following his visit to Washington, DC last week.
Ruth Coppinger claimed that the Taoiseach's visit to the White House paved the way for Conor McGregor's appearance there five days later on St Patrick's Day.
Speaking during leaders' questions, the People Before Profit TD said to Micheál Martin: "You smiled and nodded as he said his favourite person from Ireland was Conor McGregor, and lo and behold...on St Patrick's Day two rapists met each other in the White House, two men found guilty by juries to be rapists."
The Taoiseach shook his head at the comment, to which Deputy Coppinger added: "You stayed silent and joked about your father being a boxer.
"So we had this sight on St Patrick's Day of representing the country's views, an insult to the country, an insult to your Government actually...but an insult to women."
The Taoiseach said his visit to the Oval Office was a decades-old tradition.
He cited the economic relationship between the two countries saying "hundreds of thousands of jobs in this country depend on that relationship".
"I've no truck with the masculine toxicity of Mr McGregor," Mr Martin added.
Earlier, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald criticised the Taoiseach for what she described as his sniggering in the White House over the housing issue, which President Trump described as a good problem to have.
Micheál Martin responded that in the Oval Office he had said the number one issue was housing, accusing Sinn Féin of playing politics and resorting to pathetic theatrics.
