Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said he would continue to resist pressure on him to drop his foreign affairs post and hit out at those who argued it was not a domestic brief.

The Government has not been given any information on whether the US National Security Agency has been spying on Ireland, but it has warned that eavesdropping on phones is not acceptable.

A new utility company being set up to oversee household water supplies and charges will not be sold off to the private sector, Environment Minister Phil Hogan has insisted.