Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has said she is focusing on her job at present and if a vacancy arises for the Fine Gael leadership she will consider her position, but reiterated she had not changed her stance on the matter.
Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar was asked if he would run a "savage campaign" as quoted in weekend media reports and replied "if you are going to run a campaign, it might as well be a savage one, but in a good way".
He said he was against negative campaigning and would not be drawn on possible reshuffles in the event of him becoming leader.
Meanwhile, both Ms Fitzgerald and Mr Varadkar expressed full confidence in Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan.
The Tánaiste was asked about comments made by Policing Authority chairperson Josephine Feehily.
On Friday, Ms Feehily said she had a "degree of confidence" in the commissioner, but was concerned about her ability to carry out her role while the Disclosure Tribunal is under way.
The Tánaiste said today she had full confidence in Commissioner O'Sullivan but also recognised that the comments made by Ms Feehily were appropriate and were reassuring for the public that the authority was monitoring the situation.
Mr Varadkar said he had full confidence in the commissioner and was very reluctant to move individuals because allegations have been made against them.
The Tánaiste added that she fully respected Ms Feehily's comments as it was important to see her doing the job that had been asked of her by Government.
The minister said she recognised the important work of the Policing Authority and it was important for her to be monitoring the situation regarding the tribunal.
Ms Fitzgerald also said that Mr Justice Peter Charleton was confident of the nine-month timeline for the Disclosure Tribunal and said it had very clear terms of reference and was a very focused tribunal.
Ms Fitzgerald and Mr Varadkar were speaking as they jointly launched the Abhaile Information Campaign at the Citizens' Information Board Headquarters in Dublin.
