Enda Kenny's faced fresh calls to resign after confirming that the government is shelving its plans for Universal Health Insurance.

He's confirmed that analysis from the ESRI means the plan is now considered too expensive and will be deferred until at least the year 2021 - if not later.

The admission comes barely 18 months after the government said the plans were based on offering good value for money.

In the Dáil this lunchtime the Taoiseach faced a new barrage of criticism from opposition leaders about the shelving of what had been a major Fine Gael election policy in 2011.

Micheal Martin said Fine Gael never had a real idea about how much the scheme would cost, or how it would be implemented - while Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams called on the Taoiseach to resign over the major policy change.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly filed this report for Today FM's National Lunchtime News: