Trevor Sargent is to make a statement in the Dail this evening, following reports that he wrote to a garda seeking to have a criminal prosecution dropped.

The Evening Herald newspaper is reporting that the Junior Minister wrote to a member of the force on behalf of a constituent seeking to intervene in a prosecution.

The Garda Commissioner has asked for a full report on the representations, which were written on headed Department of Agriculture paper.

Deputy Sargent’s party colleague Dan Boyle has told the Seanad this afternoon that he knows the Junior Minister is a decent and honourable man and will act accordingly.

Fine Gael’s Justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan says if the story is true – Minister Sargent will have to resign.

“Writing to a member of the Garda Siochana in the hope that a case – which has been instituted – will be dropped is a very serious matter and may well be a breach of the criminal law” he said.

“If the facts stand up, the position of Minister of State Trevor Sargent in government is untenable and he’ll have to resign” he added.