The Garda Commissioner's testimony to the Public Accounts Committee about financial irregularities at Templemore has been contradicted once again.

Cyril Dunne, who was the highest-ranking civilian in the force until 2015, says Noirin O'Sullivan knew about the Templemore issues several weeks before the date she has given.

Ms O'Sullivan is due before the PAC next Tuesday to deal with the contradictions over her account of affairs.

The former chief administrative officer, told Labour's Alan Kelly he brought matters to her attention in early July. 

The commissioner previously denied that she in any way misled the Public Accounts Committee over how she found out about the problems in Templemore in 2015.

She said : "Under no circumstances did I mislead the committee. The fact is, after the meeting of the 27th of July irrespective of how long it took, immediate steps were taken to address all of the issues."

Contradicting the commissioner 

This is the second time a member of the force has contradicted the Garda Commissioner. Back in May, Human resources director, John Barrett openly contradicted the commissioner's evidence to the PAC.

Ms O'Sullivan said she received a report from legal affairs on the 28th of July, before saying "on the 27th of July there was a very brief conversation in a room after a meeting in Templemore in which Mr Barrett raised issues around work he was doing."

Mr Barrett interjected to say the "meeting was over two hours" long, adding that he had kept detailed minutes, which included the order in which people entered and left the room.

He said the meeting began at 5.20pm, and he was the first to leave at approximately 7.37pm.