Fine Gael will try to remove the Sligo-Leitrim Fianna Fail TD, Mr John Ellis, as chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and the Marine next week.
A motion of no confidence in Mr Ellis will be proposed at the next scheduled meeting of the committee next Wednesday. The Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture, Mr Paul Connaughton, wrote to the clerk of the committee yesterday informing him of the party's motion.
The move follows the refusal of Mr Ellis to step down voluntarily as chairman, a position that is worth £10,000 a year in expenses.
West of Ireland farmers also called for Mr Ellis to resign after it emerged that National Irish Bank had written off a debt of £243,000 for the TD in 1991. Mr Ellis's meat business collapsed in the late 1980s owing about £300,000 to farmers.
It is understood some senior Fianna Fail figures would prefer if Mr Ellis resigned now. However, the party has made no public statement on the matter.
A Fianna Fail source said last night that Mr Ellis's position was ultimately a matter for the 19-member committee, which elected him chairman in September 1997.
"At the end of the day it is up to the committee to decide what to do. There is also the question of the Moriarty tribunal and if it is going to investigate Mr Ellis's financial affairs. We will have to let the tribunal take its course."
Fianna Fail has a majority on the committee, so if the matter goes to a vote it is likely Mr Ellis would win the no-confidence motion. It is understood the chairman of the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party, Dr Rory O'Hanlon, had an informal talk with Mr Ellis in the last few days.
One Fianna Fail backbencher told The Irish Times last night that the view of many party TDs was that it would be better if Mr Ellis resigned rather than letting the current controversy continue.
Last night RTE news reported that Mr Ellis came into possession of a small house in St Joseph's Terrace in Clontarf, Dublin, in 1996. A similarly sized house in the area is worth £100,000 today, a property valuer told RTE.
Mr Ellis could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, yesterday defended his decision to nominate a candidate promoted by Mr Ellis for the position of honorary consul to Pakistan.
The Minister confirmed that Mr Ellis had made representations on behalf of Mr Haseeb Ahsan and that he nominated him despite the fact that the Irish Ambassador in Tehran, who interviewed candidates for the job, recommended another candidate. A total of 14 candidates, two of them Irish citizens, were considered for the position. "As is normal for appointments of this kind, I received representations from interested persons in Pakistan and in Ireland supporting one or other of those under consideration.
"Of the two persons considered by the Ambassador and the Department of Foreign Affairs as being the most suitable for appointment, I decided on the one who, in my view, was the better and asked the Ambassador to Pakistan to seek the approval of the Pakistani authorities for his appointment. The formal request was presented to them early in 1999," the Minister said.
See also Dail report: page 9