The Labour Party has described the presence of a senior garda at a Fianna Fáil fundraising function earlier this month as "an alarming departure" from normal practice.
The Labour Party tabled a parliamentary question asking Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan if the attendence of a garda at such an event would be consistent with regulations.
The question was in reference to the reported attendence of Assistant Garda Commissioner, Mr Martin Donnellan at a fundraising function for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's O'Donovan Rossa Cumann in the Clontarf Castle Hotel on December 1st.
Under Garda regulations, officers are prohibited from identifying themselves "actively or publicly" with political parties.
However, in his response, Mr Lenihan said he had been in contact with the Garda Commissioner who informed him that the officer's attendence did not constitute a breach of the discipline as he "was a passive attendee in a social context and took no part in political matters."
The Labour Party's Ciarán Lynch said is would be a serious mistake for the Garda Siochána to depart from its non-political status which he said "has served successive governments of different political hues with studied independence since the foundation of the state."
The Cork South Central TD called on the Garda Commission "to reconsider" his view on the matter and "to advise senior officers against public involvement in political activities."