LEO VARADKAR HAS cultivated a reputation for being a straight-talker whose comments have sometimes landed him in trouble with his party and his cabinet colleagues.

Only this week the Health Minister reignited the abortion debate when he described Ireland’s current laws, and specifically the 8th Amendment, as too restrictive. It was a surprise intervention but not the first this year.

In March Varadkar was widely-praised for defying his former cabinet colleague Alan Shatter and describing the garda whistleblowers as “distinguished”. Then he was reportedly ‘slapped down’ in September after suggesting budget tax cuts could amount to an ‘extra fiver or tenner’ in people’s pockets.

So when he came into TheJournal.ie earlier this week (prior to his abortion comments) we asked Varadkar if he found it hard to keep his mouth shut:

The Fine Gael TD also drew criticism for comments on the day of the recent water charges protest in Dublin when he said it “really bothered” him that people were demonstrating over €3 a week when there were much bigger problems.

In the course of a wide-ranging interview at our offices in Dublin this week, we asked the minister if he regretted the remarks:

Leo: It really bothers me that people are protesting about €3 a week, we’ve much bigger problems

Read: Would Leo be a better leader than Enda? We asked this Fine Gael TD (four times)