Former minister for justice Alan Shatter has called for the publication of the report of the O'Higgins Inquiry into alleged mishandling of claims from garda whistleblowers.

Mr Shatter said that while government formation negotiations were ongoing, the outgoing Government might regard the publication of the report as “somewhat troublesome”.

The report is believed to clear Mr Shatter of the allegations that led to his resignation from ministerial office in 2014.

An earlier report by senior counsel Seán Guerin SC had concluded he had failed to heed the voice of whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe.

The O’Higgins commission of inquiry, which was established to examine the allegations made by Sgt McCabe, is understood to have found that Mr Shatter took the allegations of Garda whistleblowers very seriously.

The 360-page report, which has been handed to the Government but not yet published, is also understood to say Mr Shatter had very substantial concerns and had displayed active and personal concern in relation to them.

It says that given that most of the allegations made by Sgt McCabe had been examined or previously reviewed, the actions of the then minister were amply justified.

Appropriate

The report also found exchanges between the former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan, the minister for justice and the Department of Justice were at all times professional and appropriate.

While the commission has not upheld all of the complaints made by Sgt McCabe it says he acted out of genuine and legitimate concerns. It concluded he showed courage and performed a public service at considerable personal cost and added that he was a man of integrity the public could trust in his duty as a garda.

Mr Shatter told RTÉ’s Sean O’Rourke Show he felt he had no choice but to resign after the Guerin Report and that Taoiseach Enda Kenny had not given him 24 hours to consider the report as he had requested.

He also refused to say if he had spoken with Mr Callinan about the report “he was an honourable man dedicated to service, accused of corruption”.

On the ongoing government formation talks, Mr Shatter, who lost his Dáil seat in the general election, said:

“A second election isn’t the worst thing that could happen.

"Fine Gael stepping back would be an honourable thing…A minority government won't last 12 months."