The Dail will vote on a Fine Gael motion of no confidence in the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, when it resumes next week after the Christmas recess.
The Fine Gael front bench, which met in Tullamore, Co Offaly, yesterday, agreed to table a motion of no confidence due to what the party leader, Mr John Bruton, described as Mr Walsh's "incompetence and inaction" over the dispute between the Irish Farmers' Association and the meat-processors.
Mr Bruton said it was the Minister's own action in introducing additional meat inspection levies that had precipitated the crisis.
The Fine Gael leader said he believed the agricultural and food communities did not have confidence in the Minister at this stage.
He said there was prima-facie evidence that a cartel was operating in the beef-processing sector.
Mr Bruton stopped short of calling on farmers to end their protests outside meat-processing plants as ordered by the High Court.
The Fine Gael motion to be debated on Wednesday and Thursday calls on Mr Walsh to resign due to his failure to ensure that the levy was not passed on unfairly to beef-producers, thereby allowing "an unprecedented crisis to develop in the beef industry".
It says the Minister has failed to reorganise the meat inspection service on a cost-effective basis. The motion also notes Mr Walsh's "continued inaction to ensure proper competition in the meat-processing sector and a transparent pricing mechanism".
The Government is likely to move an amendment to the motion ahead of the ail vote which will support the actions of the Minister.