The Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has hit out at opposition TDs, after they named the two gardaí at the centre of a new GSOC investigation.

The gardaí are being investigated after reportedly claiming that Maurice McCabe had told them he was acting out of malice.

The claims were relayed to the O'Higgins Commission, but dropped when Sergeant McCabe produced a tape to disprove them.

The officers involved were named in the Dáil by Mick Wallace, leading to condemnation from Tánaiste Fitzgerald.

She has also defended the delay in starting an inquiry into the actions of the two gardaí.

Ms Fitzgerald says the matter could not have been investigated earlier, because it may have hampered the work of the O'Higgins Commission.