Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he accepts Catherine Noone’s apology for suggesting he was autistic but ruled out any sanctions for the Fine Gael senator.

Mr Varadkar said he would still encourage people to vote for Ms Noone but said it was wrong

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Canvassing in Galway city, Mr Varadkar told reporters:

"She has withdrawn her remarks and apologised and, you know, that's good enough for me. It is not about me.

"I just think that we all need to be very aware and 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."

He ruled out any sanction for the Dublin Bay North candidate and said his government has prioritised services for autism.

Autism should never be used as a slur or a negative. 1 in 65 people can be on the Autistic Spectrum - including someone I know and love dearly. As a society we need to become much more aware in relation to Autism and not use casual stereotypes — Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) January 28, 2020

The Minister for Health criticised Senator Noone's use of autism as a slur.

"Autism should never be used as a slur or a negative," Simon Harris tweeted.

"One in 65 people can be on the Autistic Spectrum - including someone I know and love dearly. As a society we need to become much more aware in relation to Autism and not use casual stereotypes."

Additional reporting by Digital Desk

Just who is Senator Catherine Noone?

By Daniel McConnell, Political Editor

This is not the first time Catherine Noone has courted controversy during her nine years in national politics.

In 2015, she performed a speedy u-turn after she initially called for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to be banned, despite admitting she had never seen a fight. She later admitted, having faced some intense criticism, her comments were “ill informed”.

In 2016, she advocated for a ban on the building or the use of a premises as a chip shop within a 500m radius of schools. “We need to at least consider 'No Fry Zones', regulation of junk food vending machines, high calorie alerts on food and drink and minimum periods of PE in schools per week,” she said at the time amid some stinging criticism that she was being over the top.

In 2017, Noone's stand out role was when she was chair of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, which ultimately recommended that it be repealed.

She was subjected to intense criticism from pro-life members of the committee, Ronan Mullen and Mattie McGrath over how hearings were conducted.

Noone was then one of the primary members of Fine Gael who campaigned for a yes vote in the subsequent referendum of 2018, which ultimately lead to the repeal of the amendment in Ireland.

In 2018, she raised eyebrows when in 2018 she made of bullying and sexism against another party member at a meeting of the Fine Gael party. Ms Noone ultimately decided against making a formal complaint after initial inquiries by Fine Gael headquarters.

Noone (43) is a two-term Fine Gael senator on the Industrial and Commercial Panel.

Elected first to Dublin City Council in 2009, she was first elected to the Seanad in 2011. She stood unsuccessfully in the 2016 General Election campaign in Dublin West as Leo Varadkar's running mate, winning just 1,074 first-preference votes. She was eliminated on the second count.

A native of Clairemorris, Co Mayo, she is trained solicitor having studied Law and Italian at NUI Galway.