Taoiseach insists: No free vote on abortion Bill

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has escalated a row with Independent ministers by again ruling out a free vote on abortion this week.

TDs will vote on Thursday on a Bill from the Anti-Austerity Alliance, which would mean a referendum on repealing the 8th Amendment.

The Independent Alliance wants a free vote, but Enda Kenny is demanding a collective Cabinet response.

Last night, he declared that support for the Bill would mean going against the Citizens' Assembly, which was part of the Programme for Government.

"The Bill before the Dáil next week is a Private Members Bill, and cuts across that process entirely, a process which, I would remind you, that the Oireachtas, the Dáil and the Seanad have voted to put in place," he said.

"And my very strong view is that the Citizens' Assembly should be allowed to do its work."