Kenny rules out public poll on abortion

Backbench TDs from both coalition parties were being prepared for a compromise on contentious abortion legislation even as the Taoiseach ruled out a referendum on the issue.

Enda Kenny said the legislation would not change the law, but codify the existing constitutional position.

As talks continued in an effort to reach an agreed position on the level of medical assessment of suicidal risk, junior health minister Alex White warned his Labour Party colleagues that the outcome will be “quite restrictive in the context of the X case judgment”.