The Justice Minister has apologised to two Garda whistleblowers. Alan Shatter has also corrected the Dáil record that Sergeant Maurice McCabe and former Garda John Wilson did not co-operate with an inquiry into the penalty points issue.

The move eases pressure on the Minister with Labour happy with the correction.

Alan Shatter got straight to the point in the Dáil - the issue of the whistleblowers. He had looked again at what he said and what information was given to him.

Minister Shatter says more should have been done by the O'Mahony internal investigation to get the views of the whistleblowers and that further efforts could and should have been made to get their co-operation he admitted.

Then he corrected the Dáil record and apologised - twice.

And those apologies will be enough to calm any tensions within the coalition and individually within both the Fine Gael and Labour parties.

The Minister says he took all the allegations made seriously, and that speedy and appropriate action was taken to address them - and that is borne out by the debate today.

However the opposition is continuing its pressure on the Minister. Dara Calleary of Fianna Fáil says Mr. Shatter is only having to apologise because of his own handling of the affair.

The Transport Minister said earlier he had "absolute confidence" in the Justice Minister. 

Minister Leo Varadkar also admits he is having difficulty getting his head around the recent revelations in relation to the gardai.

Garda phone recordings

Earlier today, the Justice Minister insisted he was not guilty of inaction over the secret recording of phone calls at garda stations. Alan Shatter says the fact the practice is happening, and has been happening for so long, is of concern.

But the opposition says it is simply not credible that the minister continues to refuse to accept responsibility - one TD has told him to "walk the plank".

Alan Shatter told the Dáil that he understands people are demanding answers. But he says he is constrained by a court case, and cannot reveal any more for now.

The Justice Minister was adamant he did not get any warnings about these tapes and the first he knew was this week.

But the Opposition accused him of inaction and incompetence and of presiding over a dysfunctional system.

Niall Collins of Fianna Fáil asked if there was anyone the Minister has not fought with and said the Minister's position is not believable.

Padraig MacLochlainn of Sinn Féin told the Minister to go.

There are fears that the revelations could throw hundreds of criminal convictions into question, after one case was already adjourned today.