Varadkar said he would announce at a U.N. climate summit "that Ireland will also decline to issue any new exploration licences for oil in Irish waters (though new licences for gas will continue to be issued)," Virgin TV News reporter Gavan Reilly said in a Twitter post.

Reporters for the Irish Times and Examiner newspapers also reported the comments. A spokesman for Varadkar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries. Editing by Jane Merriman)