Fine Gael General Election candidate Catherine Noone has apologised for calling Taoiseach Leo Varadkar "autistic".

In a statement, Ms Noone said she "unequivocally apologise(s) and withdraw all of my remarks".

Ms Noone was quoted on The Times Ireland website as stating that Mr Varadkar was "autistic".

The quote continued: "He's autistic like, he's on the spectrum, there's no doubt about it. He's uncomfortable socially and he doesn't always get the in-between bits."

Ms Noone said that her remarks were "completely unacceptable" and that "my choice of language was inexcusable and wrong. I am truly sorry".

"I will not be making any further comment," she said.

She made the comments while canvassing with a reporter from The Times Ireland.

"If I do say so, I am much more natural than he would be. I've been in rooms with him and he doesn't know what to do with himself. He's naturally shy. But he's actually a very good politician," she said.

‪Speaking in Galway this morning, Mr Varadkar said the fact that Ms Noone has apologised and withdrawn the remark "is good enough for him".

He said she would not face any suspension from Fine Gael.

Speaking in Galway City this morning @LeoVaradkar said fact that @senatornoone had apologised for calling him autistic+ withdrawn the remark "is good enough for him" and that she won't face suspension or sanction from @FineGael @rtenews #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/aq942VrJJn — Vincent Kearney (@vincekearney) January 28, 2020

Mr Varadkar said: "She has withdrawn her remarks and apologised and, you know, that's good enough for me.

"Well, you know, it's not about me. I just think that we all need to be very aware. I'm very respectful of people who have autism, people who are on the autism spectrum and we need to understand that those terms should never be used in a pejorative way at all.

"And this is a Government that has prioritised autism more than ever before for special needs assistance, never before more special classes, never before.

"I set aside €2m this year for an autism awareness campaign to educate the public better about understanding (autism)."