The Department of Social and Family Affairs has confirmed that an official accused of organising a prostitution ring from one of its Dublin offices has been suspended from employment.
The move follows an investigation by RTÉ's Prime Time programme, which found evidence that Eugene Leech, a clerical officer in the North Cumberland Street social welfare office, had been using office facilities to organise the ring, which involved males as young as 17.
Gardaí are also examining evidence unearthed by the programme, but have not decided yet whether to open an investigation into the matter.
A spokeswoman for the department said yesterday that an internal investigation had been under way into the conduct of the official and the "inappropriate" use of office facilities before the broadcast of the programme. It moved to suspend Mr Leech on Thursday, shortly before the broadcast of the Prime Time programme.
In a statement it said: "An internal investigation into the activities of Mr Eugene Leech has been under way in the Department of Social and Family Affairs for some months. On July 14th, 2005, Mr Leech was suspended from employment pending the outcome of this investigation."
It added: "All civil servants, prior to employment, are referred for Garda clearance by the Public Appointments Commission, including the 4,800 employees of the Department of Social and Family Affairs."
In the RTÉ programme, Mr Leech contacted a reporter who posed as a "customer", using a telephone from the social welfare office on North Cumberland Street.
When contacted later by reporter Charlie Bird, Mr Leech said he was not running the service from the social welfare office and had made a "stupid mistake" by making a phone call from the office.
Mr Leech yesterday did not respond to messages left on his mobile phone by The Irish Times.
A number of clients were offered, including a 17-year-old who was posing in a school uniform on a website connected to the prostitution ring. The boy is a fifth-year student at a school in north Dublin.
The programme passed the results of its investigation to the Garda before the broadcast on Thursday. A Garda spokesman said: "We are examining a document provided to us by the programme. It's very early days and we'll see what approach we'll take to this."
While Mr Leech was a clerical officer, he did not have regular contact with the public, according to Department sources.