The former Minister for Justice, Ms Nora Owen, claimed yesterday that the Garda Representative Association (GRA) was attempting to sabotage the proposed merger with the breakaway Garda Federation.
The merger is due to be discussed at a meeting in Dublin today under the chairmanship of Mr Peter Cassells, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Ms Owen said she had tried to abolish the GRA on a number of occasions while she was Minister for Justice but was always advised that she did not have the power to do so. That was why she had introduced new legislation which had been brought to the committee stage before the change of government.
"I am now calling on the new Minister, Mr O'Donoghue, to complete the legislative process," she said last night.
The GRA president, Mr John Healy, rejected Ms Owen's claim last night.