One of the senior ministers tipped to contest the Fine Gael leadership says the Taoiseach should be allowed to stay on until after his St Patrick's week trip to meet President Donald Trump at the White House.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney says he believes it is likely Enda Kenny will step down shortly after travelling to Washington.

Speaking to RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Minister Coveney said he was expecting the transition to be "orderly and quite quick".

Pressure has been mounting on the Taoiseach to announce his departure date, with leadership contender Leo Varadkar calling for an end to the current uncertainty.

However, former leader Alan Dukes says a number of TDs have gone about things in the wrong way: