Harney says she has not had an opportunity to talk to Bertie Ahern or Ivor Callely about the issues
Mark Brennock,
Chief Political Correspondent
The Taoiseach is believed to be waiting to see whether Ivor Callely can explain satisfactorily the recent resignations from his staff, and his offer of a personal gift of a car to one of them, before deciding to take any action against the Minister of State.
Mr Ahern refused to answer a question from a reporter yesterday on the issue.
According to informed sources, he wants to see how Mr Callely deals with this week's revelations, and whether there is any other damaging information to emerge, before deciding on his political future.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Mr Callely said most of those who had quit working with him since 2002 or were now seeking transfers from his office were doing so for routine career or personal reasons.
He said he had offered the car to his personal assistant, Niall Phelan, to try to persuade him not to resign as he was a "loyal and valuable" member of staff.
He had intended to pay for it in full by taking out a personal bank loan.
Tánaiste Mary Harney said yesterday that this was not an issue for her.
"It is up to Minister Callely. Obviously there are issues. I have not had an opportunity to talk to the Taoiseach or Minister Callely about this, and I am not sure what the issues are."
There were concerns that some people felt they were not able to work with Mr Callely, she said. "There are clearly difficulties there. I could not do my job if I could not work with the wonderful civil servants around me. I do not know how these difficulties have arisen."