An Irish senator is to write to autism organisations after having to apologise for calling the Taoiseach autistic.
Fine Gael General Election candidate Catherine Noone was quoted describing Leo Varadkar as: "He's autistic like, he's on the spectrum, there's no doubt about it."
On Tuesday she apologised, withdrew her remarks and Mr Varadkar accepted her apology and said she would not face any sanctions.
Asked about Ms Noone's comments on Wednesday, Tanaiste Simon Coveney described them as "offensive, ignorant and wrong".
He added: "They caused offence to many people.
"She has apologised for those comments and I know she hopes that the families offended by them will accept that apology.
"She is following up on that to try and reinforce that point by writing to organisations and the families concerned.
"This should not have happened. As deputy party leader I want to apologise for the fact that it happened.
"The apology is very sincere and comments like that type are not acceptable.
"I hope we can put that issue to bed."
