Tribunal hears claims that document was ’inexplicable’ in light of public statements by former Commissioner.

Detailed extracts from the O’Higgins commission transcripts were already read into the record at the tribunal, and audio recordings from the commission were also played.

At the commission, barrister Michael McDowell SC, who represented garda whistleblower, Sgt Maurice McCabe, complained that the Commissions of Inquiry Act was not designed with multi-party hearings in mind.

He asked why the garda commissioner was represented at the private hearings and entitled to listen to all the evidence, and to receive daily transcripts.

Mr McDowell told the commission that a document he had received was "utterly and completely inexplicable in light of public statements by the garda commissioner", and was "a conflation of falsehoods, evasions and untruths."

Mr McDowell said the document did not match up to statements that the garda commissioner had made in public.

"If allegations are to made on behalf of the commissioner, I will require the commissioner personally to be available for me for cross examination, and I don’t think she will enjoy the experience," Mr McDowell told the commission of inquiry.

The document, which outlined the garda commissioner’s instructions to her legal team, was provided to the commission by the chief state solicitor’s office on 18 May 2015.

Colm Smyth SC, who was representing garda commissioner O’Sullivan, told the O’Higgins commission that "a misunderstanding of instructions which came from clients other than Commissioner O’Sullivan resulted in an inaccuracy", giving the wrong impression of what Sgt McCabe had said at a meeting with Supt Noel Cunningham and another garda in 2008.

Ms Leader said it appeared a "serious error" was made, leading to the "idea" that Sgt McCabe had manufactured complaints against Supt Michael Clancy in order to create pressure for him to release the direction of the DPP recommending no prosecution and exonerating the sergeant because of a lack of evidence following a sexual abuse allegation.

Although this idea was contained in the document sent to the Commission of inquiry on behalf of Commissioner O’Sullivan, it did not appear in the report of the meeting which had been made by Supt Cunningham, or in the tape recording which Sgt McCabe had made of the meeting.

Through a series of phone calls and emails, the details of the Garda Commissioner’s instructions were passed to the office of the Attorney General and to the Dept of Justice, and to Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

In a statement to the tribunal, Ms Fitzgerald said that the email from the commissioner said that no further action was needed on her part. "I was not entitled to interfere in the commission nor had I any role in relation to it," the statement said.

Because of the length of the opening statement, the tribunal did not hear the evidence of retired civil servant Cyril Dunne who had been scheduled to appear, and he will now be rescheduled to a later date.

Tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Peter Charleton , said that because of the volume of documents it had to examine, no evidence would be heard over the next few days. The tribunal resumes on Friday.