Leo Varadkar hopes Jeremy Corbyn will 'rise to the occasion' in Brexit talks

The Taoiseach said that Prime Minister's offer to engage with the Labour leader on Brexit was "timely".

Speaking in the Irish parliament, Mr Varadkar said: "I don't know if Mr Corbyn will rise to the occasion, whether he will show leadership and be able to come up with a compromised plan with Prime Minister May.

"I hope he does, but we will see if that happens in the next couple of days."

Mrs May was meeting the Labour leader in her Commons office in the hope of agreeing a position which can win a majority within the next few days, allowing her to request a short delay to Brexit at next week's summit.

Mr Varadkar also said that the growing frustration among a number of EU countries over Brexit "is worrying".

He added: "There is a real concern that if the UK stays in the EU beyond the date of the European elections and doesn't hold the European elections then there is a risk parliament will not be properly constituted.

"Therefore any decisions made by the European Parliament, whether on legislation, on budgets, on the appointment of a new Commission and Commission President, may not actually be valid.

"There's a lot of frustration among the majority of countries that aren't going to be adversely affected by Brexit, that the concentration on Brexit is taking us away from other important issues and other important matters.

"That is worrying for us."