The Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan has admitted that any changes to abortion law may not happen in the lifetime of the coalition.

The remarks from Ms O'Sullivan follow those from the Taoiseach Enda Kenny this morning, where he said the matter will not be re-examined by his government.

Speaking to Newstalk earlier, Mr Kenny said "We have had exhaustive discussions before the decision in respect of legislating for the Supreme Court interpretation of the people's decision in the Constitution, that was to give equal status to the life of mother and life of unborn but also to give legal clarity as to the circumstances in which a termination might be provided and that is where the life of the mother was threatened."

Speaking about interpretation of the law, Mr Kenny added that he understood the sensitivity of the cases, but that "it won't be revisited during the lifetime of this government".

It follows repeated calls for a new abortion referendum or the current legislation to be revisited in the wake of the case of 'Ms Y'.

While Ms O'Sullivan says abortion laws may need to be expanded, she admitted that this government does not have the mandate to do it.