The Taoiseach says the Health Minister was speaking in a personal capacity in the Dáil on Tuesday night when he said Ireland's abortion laws were too restrictive.

Leo Varadkar says the current laws are having a "chilling effect" on doctors who have to make decisions based on law and not medicine.

He did rule out a referendum in the remaining lifetime of the coalition, saying the Government didn't have the mandate to hold one.

Last night, Enda Kenny says Minister Varadkar's comments are not an agreed position of Government: