Sinn Féin has tabled a motion of no-confidence in Minister for Justice Helen McEntee following the Dublin riots last week.
Earlier this week, party leader Mary Lou McDonald called on the minister to resign in the Dáil.
A vote will take place in the Dáil on Tuesday. The Government is confident of winning the vote.
We cannot have a Justice Minister who refuses to acknowledge the political failures that allowed our communities to become unsafe.
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) December 1, 2023
Sinn Féin has been forced to put down a motion of no confidence in the Minister for Justice because this government is not listening. pic.twitter.com/8Lsgd9W74P
Ms McDonald said: "We cannot have a Justice Minister who refuses to acknowledge the political failures that allowed our communities to become unsafe.
"Sinn Féin has been forced to put down a motion of no-confidence in the Minister for Justice because this Government is not listening."
Ms McDonald said that it is the role of the Dáil to hold ministers to account, and therefore their immediate focus is on the removal of Ms McEntee.
Responding to the motion, a spokesperson for Ms McEntee told RTÉ's News at One that the minister "absolutely focussed on her work in the Department of Justice and supporting An Garda Síochána as they keep us safe and maintain law and order".
In a statement, the spokesperson said: "The minister's thoughts remain with those injured in the appalling stabbings last Thursday, particularly the small girl and her carer who remain in hospital.
"Sinn Féin has again shown that they prioritise politics and point scoring rather than being united in facing the thugs and criminals responsible for the riots in Dublin.
"Sinn Féin has never supported An Garda Síochána, including Mary Lou McDonald using the appalling incident last Thursday to call for the Garda Commissioner's resignation - echoing her own comments on the Commissioner's appointment in 2018."
Although there is precedence to include the Garda Commissioner in a no-confidence motion, Sinn Féin is not doing that.
Ms McDonald said that she made clear to Drew Harris that she has no confidence in him.
She added that the fact Ms McEntee had not removed the commissioner from office contributed to Sinn Féin's decision to table a no-confidence motion in the minister.
The party has been highly critical of the role of Ms McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris since the riots.
Sinn Féin has also raised questions about anti-social behaviour in the Parnell Square area following the riots and after the stabbings outside a primary school last week.
A party spokesperson said it believes that the Taoiseach has been given sufficient time to remove Ms McEntee from office and has chosen not to.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin accused Sinn Féin of trying to "exploit" the recent unrest in Dublin city centre.
He said he was confident the motion will be defeated.
Mr Martin said: "I think this is further illustration and confirms that the only response one can expect from Sinn Féin in the face of any challenge to society is to exploit the crisis, as opposed to come forward with proposals or solutions to a particular crisis."
He said the focus of the Government is "to deal with the root causes of this and to build the resilience and strength of An Garda Síochána".
The Tánaiste said: "What we witnessed last week was essentially an attack on the institutions of the State.
"An attack on gardai, an attack on bus drivers, an attack on workers essentially in the retail trade, in so far as shops were looted and attacked.
"When we have attacks on institutions of the State like that, everybody should rally to focus on building and strengthening the institutions of the State."
He said parties "shouldn't be seeking to gain electoral and political advantage" on the basis of such an event that was experienced last week.
On Wednesday, a political row blew up over Sinn Féin holding up a photograph which was purported to be of a man drinking a can on the steps of a building near the site of the stabbing at the school in Parnell Square in Dublin.
Mr Martin said the motion of no-confidence shows up "the irresponsible approach that Sinn Féin has taken."
"And if one wants to see evidence of that, we saw it in the Dáil on Wednesday, when the Sinn Féin leader tweeted a photograph of a potentially vulnerable individual adjacent to the school and the photograph was held up in Dáil Éireann," he added.
The Tánaiste described it as "a shocking thing to do" and he called on Ms McDonald to apologise for what he believes was "gratuitous and wrong" and to withdraw the image.
Minister of State Neale Richmond has said the move to table a no-confidence motion was "no surprise" from Sinn Féin.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, he said Sinn Féin "have never had confidence in Helen or the garda commissioner even before he took up his role".
He said that the lead opposition party wanted to play politics with last week's riots that took place in Dublin city centre, adding that the language and actions from Sinn Féin did not provide anything constructive or even addressed the key issues, rather they see the current situation as an opportunity to take out an individual minister.
He added that the Government would put down a counter motion and speak to independent TDs who had regularly voted with the Government in the past. He added that a number of independents also agreed Sinn Féin was playing politics.
Speaking on the same programme, People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Bríd Smith has said she will probably vote with Sinn Féin when they table their motion, saying she "certainly would not have full confidence" in Ms McEntee.
However, she added that the question of who is Minister for Justice and Garda Commissioner does not really deal with the "issues" that Dublin is facing.
"I think it's a much deeper problem. It is not just about law and order. It runs much deeper about the sort of culture that is behind the level of racism and hate and bile and stuff being stoked up that communities are responding to."
Additional reporting David Murphy, Fergal O'Brien
