Junior Finance Minister Brian Hayes has slammed a senior civil servant for attempting to 'set the questions' ahead of his appearance before an Oireachtas committee.

Department of Justice Secretary General Brian Purcell has been asked to before the Justice Committee to answer for his office's handling of recent controversies in An Garda Síochána.

Brian Purcell will attend the committee next week, when TDs are expected to ask him about the Guerin Report on the handling of garda whistleblowers.

However, in his response to the committee, Mr. Purcell said he couldn't answer questions about former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan's resignation - which came hours after Mr Purcell was sent to meet him by the Taoiseach.

This morning, Minister Hayes told Newstalk's Breakfast it is not acceptable for a civil servant to set the conditions of committee appearance.

And he backed comments from Transport Minister Leo Varadakar over his concerns about the Department of Justice, saying 'It's self-evident that Department of Justice is not fit for purpose'.

Brian Hayes, who is also running for a seat in Europe, spoke to Newstalk's presenter Ivan Yates:

Earlier, Fianna Fáil's justice spokesperson Niall Collins told the show it was unacceptable for the Department of Justice's top official to refuse to answer questions about the resignation of the former Garda Commissioner:

Also on the show, Newstalk's Shona Murray outlined how the notoriously media-shy garda whistleblower and serving garda sergeant Maurice McCabe gave her his response to an apology from Taoiseach Enda Kenny, on behalf of the government. He said 'Me and my family have engaged in six years of hell'.

Remarks this morning came after yesterday's announcement from the new Justice Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, on a review of the Department of Justice, following a Cabinet meeting that focused on the findings of last week's Guerin report on the handling of garda whistleblowers.

Garda authority

The Justice Committee is to start hearing submissions on the establishment of a new garda authority later today.

The Irish Human Rights Commission, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development will be among those to address the committee.