The most senior Garda position at the country's corporate enforcement watchdog has been vacant for over a year.
Despite attempts to fill the position at the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, it is thought to have remained vacant.
It has led to concerns about the new agency to tackle white-collar crime announced by the government last week.
Labour leader Brendan Howlin says the vacancy at the ODCE is worrying.
He said: "When Government and the Guards won't give the personnel that they are statutory entitled to, to the ODCE how can it function?
"It is a fundamental weakness at the heart of the investigative capacity of the office that we charge with overseeing the detection of white collar crime."