I offered to resign, says 'lapgate' TD

The Fine Gael TD behind the so-called 'lapgate' controversy has said he offered to resign after the incident.

Tom Barry was caught on camera pulling his Fine Gael colleague Aine Collins onto his lap ahead of a Dáil vote on abortion.

The Cork East TD told C103 Radio in Cork he had offered not only to quit Fine Gael, but to resign as a TD altogether.

He says he was told not to rush into a decision about his future.

"I didn't just offer to resign from Fine Gael, I offered to step down entirely," he said.

"That's the way I felt. I just felt so rotten for what had occurred.

"I didn't realise that I had caused so much issues - it was never meant to be anything to cause hurt or to cause such a stir."