Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan says he would welcome moves to relax the whip system.

The Government has been under pressure to address the matter - after former European Minister Lucinda Creighton announced her new party will allow free votes on "issues of conscience" such as abortion.

It emerged earlier that 74 per cent of Fine Gael TDs who responded to a survey said they would support loosening the "rigid" system.

And Minister Charlie Flanagan says that may be possible in some circumstances.