Micheal Martin will remain Taoiseach if second general election is called before a government is formed, a new TD has said.

Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin said there was "no question" about Mr Martin's leadership and he had the backing of his party.

Speaking on Independent.ie's Floating Voter podcast, Mr Devlin said: "If you're saying the election is in the short term then I would say yes I foresee him being leader at that time.”

"I have sat in those parliamentary party meetings and what I have witnessed is full support for Micheál Martin and indeed his stance on Sinn Féin and his stance on the negotiating team to go forward on behalf of Fianna Fáil," he added.

Mr Devlin said he understood why some party members were "upset" after the election but said those elected and those running for the Seanad are committed to Mr Martin.

Also on the podcast, newly elected Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond said there was no threat to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's leadership.

Mr Richmond said the Taoiseach clawed back support for the party in the final week of the General Election campaign through his performances on the televised debates.

"That was directly down to Leo," he said. “We were 12 points down at the start of the campaign in one poll and we built that up," he added.