The social protection minister says he doesn't want his personal life to become a feature of the leadership campaign.

Leo Varadkar has become the first person to confirm he'll be in the running to become the next leader of Fine Gael when a contest begins.

However the minister says he will not make an issue of his personal life and hopes that others do not seek to make it so.

Varadkar is the first openly gay candidate in the running to become Taoiseach.

But he's insisted the contest has not yet begun - although a fellow Fine Gael TD admits a proxy leadership campaign is already well underway.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly reports: