The Taoiseach says he still thinks Frances Fitzgerald did nothing wrong.

The country avoided a Christmas election when the former Tánaiste handed in her resignation from Cabinet on Tuesday following questions over her handling of the Maurice McCabe controversy.

She said she made the decision "to put the national interest ahead of my own personal reputation".

Motions of no confidence in her had been tabled by both Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil after it emerged she had received emails during her time as justice minister that appeared to allude to the Garda legal strategy against Sgt McCabe.

Speaking to Marianne Finucane on RTÉ, Leo Varadkar reflected on a dramatic week in Irish politics - and his continued support for Deputy Fitzgerald.

He explained: "I wanted all the facts, and I wanted to get to the truth. I still think the best place for that to happen, by the way, is the Charleton Tribunal, not in the court of the Dáil.

"For me, I wanted to stand by a colleague who ultimately I don't think did any wrong."

However, he did acknowledge that it seems there was "some level of awareness" of the Garda legal strategy based on the emails the then justice minister received, "but certainly not any detail".