Kenny to Cabinet: Watch what you say

Taoiseach Enda Kenny warned Cabinet members to stop speculating about next month’s budget and stick to their own portfolios following his public dressing down of Health Minister Leo Varadkar.

Mr Kenny called Fine Gael ministers together before yesterday’s full Cabinet meeting to demand they watch what they say in the run-up to the budget.

“The Taoiseach spoke about the need to avoid budget speculation and Leo accepted that,” a senior source said. However, Mr Varadkar used the encounter to reiterate his public comments which sparked the rift — that the health budget needed to be protected from another round of cuts.