The justice minister has denied that there is widespread surveillance on the phones of private citizens.

Frances Fitzgerald says the amount of surveillance undertaken by Gardaí is far less than the amount seen in other countries.

The comments came as she confirmed there were about 8,000 requests a year from the Gardaí for surveillance to be mounted over telephones and internet connections.

Meanwhile the Garda commissioner has defended the amount of resources devoted to finding the source of potential leaks from within the force.

But Noirin O'Sullivan says Gardai devote an appropriate amount of resources to the investigation of all crimes.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly filed this report for Today FM's National Lunchtime News: