Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy is "a man of transcendent honesty and modesty", who has been unfairly attacked, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has said.
Michael McDowell added: "It is very unfair to round on Noel Conroy. He was not commissioner at the time when any of these events took place.
"He has a very close and honest relationship with the department. He is a man of transcendent honesty and modesty himself.
"I have the highest regard for him and the greatest confidence in him," said the Minister, who rejected charges that reform of the Garda Síochána was too slow.
During a visit to Berlin, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern echoed Mr McDowell's confidence in Mr Conroy: "I do have confidence in the Garda Síochána. I have no doubt that the garda commissioner will take action as he deems necessary." Mr Ahern said the men criticised in the report were entitled to due process but there "could well be" resignations "at some level". Mr McDowell defended the commissioner over the submission made by the Garda to the Morris tribunal, which defended the handling of the investigation into the death of Richard Barron.
The 100-page submission, which has not been published by the Garda or the Morris tribunal, said: "All in all, it is submitted that the investigation was run in an efficient and thorough manner."
The document had been prepared by the legal team which represents the Garda as a whole, the commissioner himself and a long list of past and present Donegal-based officers.
However, Labour Party TD Joe Costello said: "That submission gave the investigation a clear bill of health. The commissioner has questions to answer. He is part and parcel of the Garda. He certainly should come before the Oireachtas justice committee, even if he should not stand down from office," declared the Dublin North Central TD.
In its 700-page report, the Morris tribunal expressed clear unhappiness that its first report was never debated by the Oireachtas. In response, the Government has scheduled a debate in the Dáil for a fortnight's time, though the Opposition has complained strongly that it will be limited to just two hours.
Mr Costello said the Oireachtas justice committee should probe the role played in the affair by former minister for justice John O'Donoghue and Mr McDowell during his time as attorney general, since both of them persistently refused Opposition demands to hold a public inquiry into the death of Mr Barron and the arrest of the McBreartys.
However, Fine Gael and Labour have somewhat different attitudes towards the Garda Síochána Bill currently before the Oireachtas, which aims to set up an independent garda ombudsman and inspectorate.
Mr Costello said he believed "reluctantly" that the Bill should be held up until the Morris recommendations were included, though Fine Gael TD, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, is prepared to facilitate its passage as long as a fully independent commission is set up to monitor the implementation of the management reforms.
Mr O'Keeffe said: "You would swear from the way that the Minister is carrying on that he organised the tribunal himself.
"Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats made every effort to stop the tribunal getting started. They voted against it in 2001."
He said he was beginning to favour the establishment of a special Oireachtas security committee to monitor closely the performance of the Garda.
In a bid to buoy up the morale of the Garda, the Minister for Justice acknowledged that the second report had left members of the force depressed."They are shaken, on the back foot. But I want to assure them that we will push all of these reforms and have a much better force."
