The newly appointed junior minister, John Paul Phelan, appears to be the first Fine Gael TD to break ranks with the Government about Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivans future.
The commissioner had said, earlier in the week, that she was not aware of a letter by a senior Garda official who sought charitable status from Revenue for the Garda College in an attempt to “muddy things up”.
She also denied her referral of the investigation to GSOC was an attempt to hinder questioning about it at the Public Accounts Committee.
The Carlow Kilkenny TD says the commissioner ‘may well have to resign’ over recent controversies but is awaiting the outcome of the Charleton Inquiry.