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Government Ministers have admitted the Department of Justice is not fit for purpose spelling the end for its under-fire Secretary General.

Days after the hard-hitting report by Sean Guerin was released, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar launched a stinging attack on the department headed by Brian Purcell.

Mr Varadkar said: “It is pretty clear that the Department of Justice is not fit for purpose. There are going to have to be big changes required there.”

Labour Ministers privately backed that view last night with one telling the Irish Mirror the department is in disarray.

But they said they didn’t want to publicly call for heads claiming it would be “unhelpful” to the new Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald who is only days in the job.

The public call could spell the end for Mr Purcell whose officials were slammed by the Guerin report for ignoring allegations by whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

Mr Purcell’s Department was also lashed for accepting the word of former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan without ever questioning it.

Speaking today, Minister Varadkar said there was a warning for all politicians to always “challenge advice” given to them.

He said: “One of the difficulties for Alan Shatter was that he accepted that former commissioner Martin Callinan was telling him was the truth and that his officials would brief him properly and that didn’t happen.”

The Transport Minister also launched a stinging attack on the police watchdog – the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission.

Mr Varadkar said: “It was established by Michael McDowell under the 2005 act, it is a toothless dog if ever there was one.

“They have acknowledged that themselves, their powers are limited and their resources are limited. The reason people have had to go to TDs is because GSOC doesn’t work.

“That McDowell creation needs to be changed and made fit for purpose.”

The Tanaiste also hit out at the legislation governing the Gardai and said it was an out of date system.

Eamon Gilmore said: “The problems that have arisen in the Gardai have not arisen in the last few months, they have been there for quite some time.

“Part of our problem is we are trying to run a police service in the 21st century with a structure that dates to the 1920s.”

The Cabinet will on Tuesday discuss the damning findings of the Guerin report and are accepted to outline the terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation.

sarah.bardon@irishmirror.ie