Enda Kenny has been accused of showing favouritism towards Alan Shatter - after it emerged that the former minister was given early access to decisions made by Cabinet.

Deputy Shatter was given a copy of the Terms of Reference for a Commission of Investigation into Garda malpractice, a full month before they were given to other TDs.

Opposition parties have today raised concerns as to why Deputy Shatter was given early access to the terms - especially when he, himself, is under investigation by that very Commission.

Shatter was granted access to the documents as part of his legal campaign to have himself removed from the inquiry's terms of reference.

The terms of reference for the inquiry were agreed on November 19, and sent to Shatter's lawyers on November 21 - but the same details were only shared with the Dáil as a whole in the days before Christmas.

In the Dáil this lunchtime the Taoiseach defended giving Shatter early access to the Cabinet's decisions, and pointed out that the correspondence actually showed how the Government would not concede to Shatter's demands to be excluded from investigation.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly reports: