Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said EU Commissioner Phil Hogan has undermined public confidence in terms of the public health guidelines.
Speaking to the media in Dublin earlier, before Mr Hogan announced he is to resign, Mr Martin said one of the big challenges around the commissioner has been the changing narrative from him.
Mr Martin said Mr Hogan was not correct in his assertion that a negative Covid-19 test absolved him from the 14-day period of restricted movement.
He said in terms of his role as an EU Commissioner, Mr Hogan has performed well and is accountable to the commission.
The Taoiseach said he would not go beyond last night's statement by himself, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, but there was a line they had to honour and a legal framework within which the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had to operate.
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The Taoiseach said neither he nor his officials had contacted Ms Von der Leyen in relation to the position of Mr Hogan.
"I am not in any way going to in any way seek to interfere or influence the president's competence in that regard," he said.
"There would be considerable resistance to the idea of national government endeavouring to seek to influence the President of the [European] Commission in respect of the conduct of any given commissioner in any given country or to seek to remove a commissioner."
Earlier, Mr Ryan said the Government had lost confidence in Mr Hogan because of the lack of immediate transparency and communication from him.
It follows the fallout from the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden, Co Galway last week.
Mr Martin did not go as far as Mr Ryan, but said the Government was "not confident to the degree that he has breached public health guidelines".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Ryan said Mr Hogan breached public health advice by attending the event in Clifden, when there was clear Government advice to avoid large congregations.
The minister also said that Mr Hogan was not free to travel around the country, despite having a negative Covid-19 test, saying that this applies in different cases.
The President of the European Commission, meanwhile, would take into account other sources of information beyond what Mr Hogan had placed in the public domain when she finalised her assessment of his conduct, a spokesperson said.
"The president will of course take into account any other facts, matters or circumstances which she believes are relevant to elucidate this matter in order to enable her to take a decision which is fair and which is appropriate in this matter, which she believes is a serious one," spokesperson Dina Spinant said.
Ms Spinant said Ms von der Leyen had further contacts with Mr Hogan since he published the timeline of his movements in Ireland yesterday afternoon.
However, she would not be drawn on when President von der Leyen would conclude her assessment of Mr Hogan's conduct.
Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall said Mr Hogan's "cavalier attitude and reckless and dangerous behaviour" had led to him losing the confidence of the majority of the Oireachtas and his position was untenable.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, she said the controversy was bringing Ireland into disrepute and reflected poorly on the EU Commission.
Read more:
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The joint statement by Mr Martin, Mr Varadkar and Mr Ryan last night came after Mr Hogan provided details to Ms Von der Leyen about his time in Ireland leading up to his attendance at the Oireachtas golf society event last week.
The information was provided following a request by Ms Von der Leyen.
In the documents, Mr Hogan said he tested negative for Covid-19 during a hospital visit on 5 August and received a negative Covid-19 test while in hospital.
He said this meant he was "not under any subsequent legal requirement to self-isolate or quarantine".
However, the Department of Health has said a person is required to restrict their movements for 14 days if they arrive into Ireland from a country not on the Green List.
It said the guidance does not state that a negative Covid-19 test shortens the 14-day requirement.
In their statement, the three leaders said the Government guidelines "clearly required him to restrict his movements for 14 days".
They said he should also have limited his movements to and from Kildare for essential travel only, and he should not have attended the Oireachtas golf society dinner.
Additional reporting Tony Connelly, Mary Regan and Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
