Fianna Fáil has accused the Taoiseach of using a state event to attack his political opponents.
The party is planning to write to the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) to request an immediate investigation into an event marking 40 years of Apple in Ireland.
The event was attended by the CEO of Apple Tim Cook who was presented with an award by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
During his speech, Mr Varadkar said that since the tech company had opened its factory in Cork with 60 employees, "Ireland has become the tech capital of Europe".
However, returning to election matters, the Taoiseach said his opponents want to "tear up" the broadband plan, but told the audience not to worry because "they're not going to get in anyway, so it doesn't matter."
Speaking at an IDA event in the National Concert Hall, Leo Varadkar brings up broadband, claiming his opponents won’t ‘tear up the contract’ like they say they will, then adds they ‘won’t get it anyway’. #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/STCWcMisM3
— Andrew Lowth (@AndrewLowth1) January 20, 2020
In response, the Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin says Mr Varadkar wrongly used the occasion to score political points.
He said: "It's very inappropriate and wrong of the Taoiseach to use a platform such as the one he had today with the IDA and Apple as a platform to attack his political opponents.
"That's just simply wrong and we keep highlighting that with the Taoiseach and pointing that out to him."
Earlier, the party's spokesperson on Public Expenditure Barry Cowen confirmed that Fianna Fáil would be requesting an investigation into Fine Gael’s "abuse" of state events and funding in the general election campaign.
He said: “Again today we have seen Fine Gael abuse the separation between State and political party activities.
"The Taoiseach used his appearance at an IDA event this morning to make party-political comments in a highly inappropriate attempt to score points for his party.
“This is the latest incident in what has become a worrying pattern by Fine Gael and its leadership.
Deputy Cowen said: "It comes after what appears to be a significant increase in advertising, branded by the government and paid for by the taxpayer, in a bid to win over voters."
He was referring to an advertisement on the front page of a newspaper yesterday by the Government of Ireland which Fianna Fáil claimed was placed by Fine Gael using taxpayers' money.
The party's deputy leader Dara Calleary said it showed that Fine Gael was "returning to familiar territory and splashing the cash on expensive advertising to promote itself – and using taxpayers’ hard earned cash to do so."
Deputy Calleary said it was "a blatant attempt to target employers during a General Election campaign" which is "very questionable".
He said: “People in Ireland have woken up to Fine Gael’s spin over substance approach; not only are they no longer buying it, they’ll be angry that their money is being wasted on advertising when it could be better used on public services."
Additional reporting by Kacey O'Riordan
