Cancer and heart attack treatment in Altnagelvin an example of good cross-border cooperation: Varadkar

“We have a lot of co-operation when it comes to healthcare North-South, whether it is children from the North coming to Crumlin hospital for heart surgery or patients from Donegal going to the Altnagelvin hospital for cancer treatment or for treatment of heart attacks, for example,” said the Fine Gael leader during Dáil questions.

The Taoiseach said it was ‘unfortunate’ that in the absence of a Stormont Executive decisions about the North are being taken in London.

"The abortion laws in NI and the Republic of Ireland are different. We are different jurisdictions. We decide what the laws are here in the Oireachtas. Stormont, when it is working, decides what the laws are in NI; when it is not, decisions are unfortunately made in London,” he said.