The Taoiseach says he's confident that Fine Gael conducted itself properly in the deselection of Maria Bailey.
The TD at the centre of the 'swing-gate' controversy claims to have serious concerns about the procedures of a meeting last month where local party members in Dun Laoghaire called for the election ticket to be changed.
After she was formally dropped by Fine Gael last night, Deputy Bailey said she had hoped to rebuild her reputation and move on.
She added that she was "disappointed" by the decision of the party's national executive, and will "now take the time to reflect" on it.
Speaking today, Leo Varadkar said it was a democratic decision by the party - but noted that he does empathise with the Dun Laoghaire TD.
He observed: "I very much appreciate that this is a very difficult personally for Deputy Bailey.
"It's never a nice thing to be deselected as an election candidate - I can understand how she must be feeling at the moment."
The 'swing-gate' controversy arose after Deputy Bailey brought a claim against the Dean Hotel in Dublin after she claimed she fell from a swing in the hotel's restaurant in 2015.
Amid significant public criticism, the Dun Laoghaire TD withdrew her case in May.
An internal Fine Gael review of the situation was completed in July and found the claim was not fraudulent.
However, Mr Varadkar at the time also noted "inconsistencies in Deputy Bailey’s account of events" - suggested that she had made "numerous errors of judgement" in her handling of the matter.
Following the review she was removed as chairperson of the Oireachtas housing committee, but retained the party whip.
