The Taoiseach says a judge could be asked to examine new claims brought forward by Garda whistleblowers.

It's after two members of the force made claims they had been told to smear the character of a previous whistleblower.

In the Dail today the Taoiseach said Frances Fitzgerald would probably not be able to discover for herself if the claims were true.

But he said the final decision on how to investigate the claims would be left to the justice minister herself:

Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald questioned whether Enda Kenny could continue to support the Garda Commissioner given the scale of claims now being made.

Clare Daly of Indepdendents4Change claimed that another whistleblower, who she named in the chamber, had written to the Minister for Justice FOUR times complaining about how he was ostracised and bullied by others in the force for becoming a whistleblower.

She said the position of the Commissioner had now to be called into question.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly reports.