Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin had repeatedly accused him of sacking former garda commissioner Martin Callinan, but the Fennelly Report had said this was not the case.
Mr Kenny said Mr Martin should move to correct the record.
The Dáil reconvened this afternoon after the summer recess, with the main business a confidence vote in the Taoiseach.
The Government won the vote by 94 votes to 52.
Opposition contributors reiterated that sending Brian Purcell, the former secretary general of the Department of Justice, to Mr Callinan's home had amounted to him being sacked.
The Government tabled the vote of confidence in the Taoiseach after Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin challenged Mr Kenny over the findings of the Fennelly Commission report.
The Fennelly Report investigated the sequence of events that led to the retirement of Mr Callinan last year.
Mr Kenny told the Dáil that the decision to establish an independent policing authority represented the greatest reform and would meet the challenges of 21st Century policing.
He accused the Opposition of interfering with the work of the commission for political gain.
The Taoiseach also said he had absolute confidence in Attorney General Máire Whelan.
The Fianna Fáil leader said that not one member of the Government was capable of accepting the unequivocal evidence that the Taoiseach's actions on last March represented the effective sacking of the commissioner of An Garda Síochána.
He accused the Government of being arrogant and of actively working to hide information and reject accountability.
Mr Martin said the withholding of information, twisting of statistics and refusal to answer questions had reached unprecedented levels.
The constant refusal to be open and honest had reached new depths in the Taoiseach's behaviour during and after the events investigated by Mr Justice Fennelly, he said.
He said the report was damning and the facts which it details were much worse than anything which was alleged in the Dáil.
Mr Martin said it was a mark of how low Fine Gael and Labour have sunk that they claim as vindication a report, which shows chaos at the centre of government and a Taoiseach incapable of owning up to the implications of his own actions.
He said to them accountability is merely something you demand of other people.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said that the visit by Mr Purcell to Mr Callinan's home at the behest of the Taoiseach amounted to the sacking of the Garda Commisisoner.
He said: "The Taoieach was not straight with the Commissioner and the Justice Minister".
Mr Adams earlier said his party would meet to decide whether or not to put a motion of no confidence in the Attorney General next week.
He said the AG is constitutionally protected from such motions but he said they had consciously raised the issue.
Tánaiste Joan Burton said she had "full confidence in the Taoiseach and the Attorney General", who was central in ensuring that the concerns around the gardaí would be investigated appropriately.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said that the Taoiseach has been the leader of a Government that has brought recovery back to this country.
He said that anyone who expresses no confidence in the Attorney General does not know the effort Ms Whelan puts into her role.
Independent TD Mick Wallace accused the Taoiseach of seeking political advantage by sending a senior civil servant to the home of former garda commissioner Mr Callanan last year to tell him of his concerns.
He said he finds it hard to credit that Mr Kenny did not want to put pressure on the former Garda Commissioner.
Mr Wallace accused Mr Kenny of taking the action for political advantage.
Independent TD Clare Daly accused the Taoiseach of brazenness and said his account of Mr Callinan's resignation was not the same as in the Fennelly Report.
Renua leader Lucinda Creighton said she does not have confidence in the Government and the sooner Mr Kenny goes to the country the better.
Speaking at the Ploughing Championships, she said she will not be voting on the motion as her party is excluded from the debate.
Ministers attending the Ploughing Championships today have been told to be back in the Dáil in time for the vote of confidence in the Taoiseach at 5.30pm.
Former minister for justice Alan Shatter, who had been dismissive of Mr Kenny's version of events following the report, is not in the Dáil this afternoon.
The Taoiseach told the Dáil today that early next year the people will have a clear choice between stability and the policies of those who had wrecked the country in the past.
He said the interim report of the Fennelly Commission dealt with two specific issues which the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice had requested to be included.
They included a letter to the Department of Justice relating to phone recordings in some garda stations and the retirement of Mr Callinan last year, he added.
Mr Kenny also said he consistently rejected claims that he sought to sack the former garda commissioner and the report stated that the commissioner decided to retire of his own volition and that Mr Kenny made no attempt to put pressure on him to do so.
The Taoiseach said there were lessons to be learnt about future governance and the recommendations of the Fennelly Commission report should be implemented.
He said there had been much controversy leading up to Mr Callinan's retirement.
In relation to concerns by the AG about the recording of phone conversations at garda stations, Mr Kenny said he called a meeting to get as much information as he could in advance of a Cabinet meeting the following morning, particularly as it related to the Ian Bailey case.
He said he had not been informed about a letter, which he said had been with the Department of Justice for two weeks prior.
Had he been made aware of the letter he would have brought it to Cabinet and there would have been no need for a commission of investigation, Mr Kenny added.
He said the main Fennelly Commission report will deal with main issues of public concern, including the taping of phone calls during the investigation into the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork in December 1996.
He said he looked forward to Mr Justice Fennelly's final report and that it would be published as soon as possible.
The Fennelly Commission's report concluded that the visit by the former secretary general to the home of Mr Callinan was the immediate catalyst for his retirement.
However, the report also stated Mr Callinan decided to retire and that he could have decided otherwise.
