FIANNA FÁIL’S JUSTICE spokesman Jim O’Callaghan has called on Frances Fitzgerald to sack Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan.
O’Callaghan said that he also has “reducing confidence” in the Tánaiste who he claims has not taken political responsibility for the garda scandals.
The Commissioner has been accused of misleading an Oireachtas committee earlier this month as she was questioned in relation to the Templemore cash controversy.
The scandals concerns allegations that millions of euro in taxpayer’s money was misappropriated.
Speaking on The Week in Politics on RTÉ, O’Callaghan accepted that there are serious issues within the force that will not be instantly fixed by the Commissioner being removed from her position.
However, he said that he believes it would be in the country’s best interest for her to go.
He said: “If the Government removes the Commissioner in the morning, we’re going to have the same problems. We need to recognise there is a problem with senior management.
“It seems that when a problem materialises, the instinctive reaction is to pause, to try and hide it and see if it will go away.”
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is expected to move forward Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan’s next appearance at the committee.
O’Sullivan was originally planned to appear before the committee on 13 July, but vice-chair of the committee, Alan Kelly, said he wants that date brought forward in light of a new dossier on the alleged misappropriation of funds at the Templemore Garda College given to the committee yesterday.
A 122 page document details how the Head of Human Resources for An Garda Síochána, John Barrett, raised concerns about the alleged misappropriation of millions of euro at the college.
O’Sullivan had initially told the PAC that she had found out about the cash controversy at Templemore during “a brief chat” with Barrett over a cup of tea, something he has denied.
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