Denis O'Brien has responded to claims made about him during a Dail debate about his relationship with the former bank IBRC.

Mr O'Brien said that TD Catherine Murphy used Dail privilege yesterday, to make statements relating to him, which Mr O'Brien says are false and based on documents Deputy Murphy knew were illegally obtained.

It's been claimed that IBRC accepted a personal guarantee from the businessman to secure someone else's loan - at a time when his ability to repay his own loans was being questioned.

However, in a statement this evening, Mr O'Brien said due to ongoing litigation relating to a claim by him of abuse of Dail privilege by Deputy Murphy last year he is not in a position to detail the defamatory nature of her statements in the Dáil yesterday.

Mr O'Brien added that he fully endorses the principle of Dail privilege but not when it i used to voice untruths or to make public the proper private and personal financial affairs of an any individual.