The Government has been accused of "mind blowing political ineptitude" by the Fianna Fail deputy leader, Ms Mary O'Rourke.
She told a party function in Cork that "on BSE, hepatitis C, industrial policy and North"era Ireland, there has been no sure hand at the tiller, issues have been allowed to drift, and there is confusion, bungling and incompetence".
The current "crises" were all symptoms of the incoherence of the coalition. The right decisions were not being made "because the sole objective of the administration is to stay in office rather than to deliver good government".
She claimed there was an ideological chasm" between the Government parties which was proving to be disastrous. Because Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left were "poles apart" in ideological terms, any decision they took was a "makeshift" one.