The Taoiseach has said Mr Liam Lawlor should resign his Dail seat unless he co-operates fully with the Flood tribunal in the time-frame set out by the High Court last Monday.
In a letter to the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, last night, Mr Ahern also unequivocally condemned, in his strongest terms yet, Mr Lawlor's contempt of court, for which he was jailed.
The form of words crafted by Mr Ahern's office, in consultation with the Tanaiste, means the Government call on Mr Lawlor to resign may not take effect until November.
The High Court suspended all but a week of Mr Lawlor's threemonth jail sentence to November to give him an opportunity to co-operate with the tribunal. This nine-month leeway contrasts with the Fine Gael call, supported by Labour and the Green Party, on Mr Lawlor to resign forthwith. However, the Government presented a united front on the issue last night.
In a move to stem Opposition claims that he has adopted a "softly, softly" approach to Mr Lawlor, Mr Ahern said last night he would be tabling a motion in the Dail on the day it resumes calling on Mr Lawlor to co-operate within the court's time-frame, and saying he should resign if he does not.
The three-page letter from Mr Ahern to Mr Bruton was agreed between the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste yesterday and ends tensions between the Coalition parties on the issue.
The key part of Mr Ahern's letter says: "It is the Government's firm view that, given the sentence of the High Court, structured as it was to elicit full co-operation within a definite time-frame and the fact that the judge referred to his membership of Dail Eireann, Deputy Lawlor should now meet fully the requirements of the courts and the tribunal, or that failure to do so within that time-frame would confirm his membership of Dail Eireann to be untenable and that he should voluntarily resign his membership. It is the Government's intention to table a Dail motion, in Government time, to this effect for Tuesday, 30th January, 2001."
His strong condemnation of Mr Lawlor's behaviour so far said: "I wish to state unequivocally and without reservation that I completely condemn the disobedience, non-co-operation and contempt in respect of which Deputy Lawlor was found guilty. I entirely endorse the sentiments of the High Court judge."
Last night Mr Bruton accused Mr Ahern of coming up with "an elaborate and evasive formula" in response to Fine Gael's call for Mr Lawlor to resign forthwith. The formula "is designed to give the Government the appearance of distancing itself from Deputy Lawlor while still allowing it to continue to call on his vote in Dail Eireann," he said.
However, Mr Ahern noted that the sentence "was structured so as to ensure that the suspended portion would act as an incentive to Deputy Lawlor to deliver on his stated willingness to co-operate in future with the tribunal".