Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he backs the decision of Minister for Children Katherine Zappone to withhold funding from Scouting Ireland.

Speaking in Limerick, he said the decision was made while they await more details about what happened.

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has said she is "deeply concerned" about the governance of Scouting Ireland.

Minister Katherine Zappone has announced she is withholding funding from the organisation from June this year.

It follows the reinstatement of man in the organisation after an allegation of rape was made against him.

Gardaí investigated and no prosecutive was taken. The man was reinstated in the scouts and promoted.

Ms Zappone said she has "grave questions in relation to the governance of the organisation."

"That person was reinstated into the organisation by the board without a garda vetting process, which was recommended by the Gardaí, that's one of the first deep concerns I have," she said

Ms Zappone is seeking reassurances before the State continues spending public money with the organisation.

She said she's "quite surprised" not to have heard from Scouting Ireland today and will be issuing a letter to them before the end of the day asking them to meet with her.

In a statement Scouting Ireland said that an external review is being carried out into the handling of a complaint made by an adult volunteer in 2015.

There are 13,000 adult volunteers and 35 paid staff in Scouting Ireland.

It has 40,000 youth members, making it the largest youth organisation in the country.

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Yesterday the Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs said the organisation must answer questions over the case.

In a statement Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell said he was "deeply concerned" about the reports, adding that no person should be in a position to work with young people without having to undergo garda vetting.