Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that he has the support of his parliamentary party after a number of reports suggesting he had lost the Fine Gael dressing room.
Both Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris backed the Taoiseach, saying that there is “no leadership issue” in Fine Gael.
Three Sunday newspapers ran articles over the weekend suggesting that Mr Varadkar’s leadership was on the brink.
Some papers noted that while there has been no talk of a heave among TDs and Senators, the potential for ousting the leader could be coming down the tracks.
At the National Economic Dialogue at Dublin Castle on Monday morning, Mr Varadkar denied that his position was in question.
“I'm absolutely sure that I have the confidence of the vast majority of my parliamentary party and I have done for the past six years,” he said.
“The next election is ages away.
“I believe it's an election in which Fine Gael can gain votes and can gain seats. If we do that, we may well be in a position to form another Government.
“But that's not my focus at the moment. My focus is on building more houses, in helping middle Ireland with the cost of living. It's on standing up for farmers in rural Ireland. It's building safer, stronger communities and all the things that we’re going to do as a Government.”
Mr Varadkar also denied suggestions that there was a “rudderless drift” in Fine Gael, saying that his party has “achieved so much in the past six years under my leadership”.
This included, he argued, full employment, a budget surplus and increased life expectancy.
“I don’t think most of my colleagues have any doubts about how much has been achieved by my party in Government in the past six years under my leadership,” he added.
Ministers Harris and Coveney both denied that Mr Varadkar’s leadership was at risk.
Mr Harris’ name was mentioned several times as a potential successor but he refused to say if he would put his name forward if a position were to arise.
“It's simply an issue that doesn't arise,” he said.
“We’ve a very talented parliamentary party, We have a really, really good team of people working really, really hard, led by Leo Varadkar. It's a testament to him, actually, that we have such a talented parliamentary party.”
Mr Coveney said that he would “not start speculating on hypotheticals”.
“There's no leadership issue in Fine Gael right now,” he added.
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