Irish MEP Luke 'Ming' Flanagan has insisted European Commissioner Phil Hogan 'is not indispensable'.
The Midlands-North-West MEP has claimed that the current controversy over the golf event in Cork 'definitely damages' the Trade Commissioner ahead of the next stage of Brexit negotiations.
Mr Hogan is sending 'additional information' to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after she asked for further clarity on his attendance at the function in Co Galway last week.
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have asked Mr Hogan to 'consider his position' in the wake of the scandal.
Mr Flanagan spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about the controversy.
He suggested that if Phil Hogan remains in the job it will send out a message that "somehow he's different" to the rest of the public in terms of coronavirus restrictions.
He said: "Whether he likes it or not, he is as just as likely to get the coronavirus as anyone else... and just as likely to pass it on as anyone else.
"Really what we're talking about at the moment is if Phil Hogan is indispensable.
"I would argue that Phil Hogan is not indispensable, and that we can survive without him."
Mr Flanagan claimed that the controversy makes Mr Hogan an "open target" for the UK when it comes to Brexit talks, suggesting: "This can be brought up every time there's a problem and thrown into the media."
The MEP also argued that Ms von der Leyen would 'not be pandering' to the public if she removed Mr Hogan from his role.
He said: "She would be listening to the public. This isn't just an Irish issue - this is a European Union wide union.
"The sooner we nail it with certainty that these rules are for absolutely everybody, the sooner we rid ourselves of this massive problem."
