A couple whose baby was aborted at the National Maternity Hospital after it was wrongly diagnosed as having a fatal foetal abnormality have claimed that an "illegal abortion" was carried out, a TD has told the Dáil.

"I’m not sure Leo Varadkar said all of that."

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has faced criticisms from within his own party that the appointment of Máire Whelan was an act of stroke politics.