Tánaiste 'legally constrained' to speak about O'Higgins investigation

The Tánaiste and Justice Minister has said she is legally constrained by what she can say about the O'Higgins Commission of Investigation.

Frances Fitzgerald's been asked in the Dáil if she accepted the Garda Commissioner's position in relation to how she instructed her lawyers.

It follows claims Noirin O'Sullivan directed her barrister to attack the character of whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

Commissioner O'Sullivan has said she is legally barred from disclosing her evidence to the inquiry.

Minister Fitzgerald's told the Dáil that she is also constrained in what she can say as she must uphold the law, but added that the whisteblower had done "the state some service".