Update 2.06pm: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that he has confidence in the garda commissioner.
He told Radio Kerry today that this afternoon’s press briefing will give Noirín O’Sullivan an opportunity to provide an explanation around recent issues.
“This is a very important matter, and obviously the Minister for Justice will talk to me later on during the day and Government will consider this tomorrow,” he said.
“So I have confidence in the Commissioner – but it’s an opportunity for the Commissioner to set out all of the facts relevant to these particular problems, which are very serious.”
Update 1.21pm: Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has called on Sinn Fein to delay publishing a motion of no confidence in the garda commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan.
Pressure has increased on Commissioner O’Sullivan on the issues surrounding the breath tests and drivers being prosecuted in court for speeding offences after never getting the original penalty notice.
“It has been suggested, for example, that she may come before the Oireachtas Committee on Justice to give further explanations,” said Minister Varadkar.
“The Garda Authority has a role too, so I would really ask Opposition not to try to exploit this.”
Justice spokesperson Jonathan O’Brien said that the Sinn Fein motion is “essentially calling for the Government to enact Section 11 (1) (c) of the Garda Siochana Act 2005, which allows the Government to remove a Commissioner.”
Update 1.03pm: Garda Commissioner Noirín O Sullivan will hold a press briefing at the Garda Headquarters at 3.30pm in relation to “updates concerning the issues discovered with administration of Fixed Charge Notices (FCN) and road side breath tests”, the Garda Press Office has announced.
Earlier:
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald did not ask Garda commissioner Noirín O Sullivan to step aside during a tense two-hour meeting with Ireland’s most senior Garda this morning, writes Fiachra Ó Cionnaith.
The senior Cabinet held crisis talks with Ms O Sullivan at the Department of Justice between 9am and 11am after being forced to cancel plans to travel to Brussels for a joint meeting of European justice ministers this afternoon due to the growing scandal over the Garda commissioner’s future.
The meeting, which was also attended by officials from both the Department of Justice and gardaí, was arranged late last night and saw Minister Fitzgerald and Ms O Sullivan discuss the “very serious issues which have come to light”.
However, while there is growing Opposition pressure for Ms O Sullivan to step down in the wake of the phantom drink-driving tests controversy, the meeting was officially confined to the solutions which have already been put in place and unspecified further plans to address the situation.
It is understood that Minister Fitzgerald did not raise the prospect of Ms O Sullivan resigning over the latest scandal to hit the force during the two-hour meeting this morning.
However, it was made clear that a further statement from the garda commissioner explaining exactly what happened should be released before Cabinet and the Dáil meet tomorrow.
A garda press officer said this morning he is not yet aware of any plans for an additional statement from the commissioner.
