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Government spokesman on brian purcell

The Junior Finance Minister has refused to be drawn on whether he has full confidence in the General Secretary at the Department of Justice - saying he'll await the outcome of the review into the Department before commenting on Brian Purcell's position. Brian Hayes' comments come after Mr Purcell told TDs that he won't be answering any questions on the resignation of the former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan when he appears before the Oireachtas Justice Committee next week. Minister Hayes says Mr. Purcell shouldn't be allowed set the agenda and he backed Minister Varadkar's calls for changes within the Department of Justice - describing it as not being fit for purpose. "There is some dysfunctional nature within the department - there's no doubt about that - if ones looks at the whole legacy issue surrounding this and other problems, it goes back to a communication link" he said. "And...we need to be much clearer as to where the operations of the gardai stand and where the operations of the Department of Justice stand" he added.