Fianna Fail is accusing the Education Minister of hypocrisy in relation to his views on the health minister James Reilly.

It follows newspaper reports yesterday suggesting that Ruairi Quinn confided to a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party that Minister Reilly was "not up to the job".

Fianna Fail says it's misleading for Minister Quinn to back James Reilly publicly and make the opposite statement behind closed doors.

But a spokesperson for Minister Quinn says he's expressed confidence in James Reilly in the past week, and there's no reason to believe his position has changed.

Fianna Fail's Billy Kelleher says Minister Quinn's positions should be clarified: