The Taoiseach faces close questioning in the Dail this week on the circumstances leading to the resignation of his special adviser Mr Paddy Duffy.
Mr Duffy resigned on June 4th after it emerged he was a director of a public affairs company, Dillon Consultants, which had advised NTL, the successful bidder for Cablelink. Both Mr Duffy and Dillon Consultants insisted that Mr Duffy played no role in advising NTL on its bid. A series of Dail questions tabled by the Opposition is likely to be answered by Mr Ahern tomorrow unless the Opposition seeks to postpone a group of questions on Northern Ireland due for answer today.
The questions from Fine Gael and Labour ask Mr Ahern to make a statement on a meeting he held on May 21st, 1998 with the managing director of NTL, Mr Owen Lamont.
They ask who arranged the meeting and what advice the Taoiseach received before the meeting took place. They also ask Mr Ahern if he is satisfied that he and the members of the staff in his Department have complied in full with the terms of the Ethics in Public Office Act.
They ask for details of any severance package agreed with Mr Duffy, and whether he was consulted in advance about the text of Mr Duffy's resignation statement issued on June 4th.