THE Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht had "no comment" to make after two Fianna Fail TDs urged the resignation of Mr Niall Stokes as chairman of the Independent Radio and Television Commission for saying heroin should be legalised.
Mr Higgins, who appointed Mr Stokes, kept silent following the remarks in a Hot Press editorial.
Mr Stokes wrote: "It seems blindingly obvious to me that the best way to beat the drug barons is to take their market away from them. This can be done in two ways: by education and rehabilitation and by supplying heroin - not methadone - cheaply to registered addicts. And if, to do this, it is necessary to legalise heroin and create a legitimate trade in the drug under State supervision, then that is the route to go."
Mr Noel Ahern said: "For an editor of a magazine aimed primarily at young people to call for the legislation of heroin and for the State to supervise the trade of heroin is disgraceful."
Mr Sean Haughey said: "There is a clear conflict of interest, when the person who espouses such views in a crusading magazine which he edits is also in charge of the development of local radio."
But Father Sean Cassin, of the Merchant Quay Project in Dublin, which helps drug addicts, said the suggestion may have merit.