A Fianna Fáil TD has accused Fine Gael of trying to “undermine” his party by raising concerns over training provided to some of its senior figures by Ivan Yates.

Fianna Fáil has confirmed it hired Mr Yates during the presidential campaign to provide four hours of “interview and debate training” for its candidate Jim Gavin but said the former Fine Gael minister was not involved in its campaign team.

Six senior Fianna Fáil politicians, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, were also given media training by Mr Yates.

Mr Martin, Minister for Housing James Browne and Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien were all coached by Mr Yates for the 2024 general election.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland on Tuesday, Minister of State at the Department of Justice Niall Collins said there was no obligation on Fianna Fáil to disclose any contractual relationship.

The revelations that Mr Yates had provided services to Fianna Fáil was “not new news”, the Limerick County TD said.

[ Ivan Yates controversy shows why media must take conflicts of interest seriouslyOpens in new window ]

“Fianna Fáil, like any political party, like any organisation, procures services from people and there’s no obligation, in my opinion, for Fianna Fáil to be disclosing any contractual relationship that they have.

“So it’s no big deal. It’s been out there in the public domain for a long period of time. It’s well known.”

When asked if the issue was causing conflict between the Coalition parties, Mr Collins replied: “I think it’s just another example, this is a concern I have within the working of the Government, that Fine Gael take every opportunity to try undermine Fianna Fáil and to try to undermine Taoiseach Micheál Martin at every opportunity they get and I think this is just another example of it.

“I don’t understand. It’s not really any of Fine Gael’s business what media consultants or media trainers Fianna Fáil use,” he said.

“So I don’t understand why Minister Colm Brophy will be saying on radio when he’s asked in relation to this that Fianna Fáil have questions to answer. We don’t in my view. It’s a matter for Fianna Fáil, who Fianna Fáil engages as a media coach or indeed as a consultant.

“I just struggle to understand why they are saying it raises questions and I think that they’re just in a subtle way trying to undermine Fianna Fáil. That’s my opinion.”

Senator Anne Rabbitte, who received media training from Ivan Yates, said she was unhappy that the issue and the fallout from the presidential election were dominating the headlines.

“I think this is all, it’s all dragging on. It’s incredibly embarrassing for the elected representatives, very embarrassing for our grassroots and our councillors.

“I think it needs to go to bed as quickly as possible. And I think it [the review of presidential election] needs to be open, honest and transparent,” the Fianna Fáil Senator said.

“We’re eight days in the papers, it’s not good news, you don’t like that. It’s because of the past.

“We prefer to be talking about what needs to be talked about, what people are elected to do, which is actually to see where we’re going with housing, where we are going with health, where we are ensuring that people with additional needs are getting the support they need. Well certainly that’s lost. That’s what we should be talking about.”

Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture Martin Haydon welcomed the move by Coimisiún na Meán to investigate the issue of independent commentators being on news programmes.

Mr Haydon, a Fine Gael TD, told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that there was a broader issue involved when commentators like Mr Yates appeared on programmes where they were asked for a view but did not declare a conflict of interest.

When asked if he thought Fianna Fáil should have disclosed the involvement of Mr Yates in Jim Gavin’s presidential campaign, Mr Heydon said that was “first and foremost” a question to be answered by Mr Yates.