The Opposition yesterday accused the Taoiseach of being afraid to condemn Mr Liam Lawlor for his failure to provide documents to the Flood tribunal.
Fine Gael and Labour accused Mr Ahern of fudging, equivocating and being afraid to condemn the Dublin West TD and challenged him to explain what Mr Ruairi Quinn called his lack of political and moral leadership.
In advance of Mr Ahern's condemnation of the jailed TD through a spokesman last night, the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, maintained Mr Lawlor was "one of the critical props for Bertie Ahern's Government".
"To survive as Taoiseach Mr Ahern depends on Liam Lawlor's vote", he said. "It is therefore not surprising that the Taoiseach will yet again wait until the very last moment to take minimal action, and only then when forced to do so."
The Labour leader, Mr Quinn, said of Mr Ahern that "when somebody is elected as the political leader of this country, the people are entitled to expect political and moral leadership".
He continued: "The Taoiseach has shown neither and has instead indulged in the sort of fudge and equivocation that have become the hallmark of his period in office."
He said Mr Ahern in opposition had plucked Mr Lawlor from the backbenches to give him a frontbench position, and in Government had appointed him to key committee positions.
"The refusal of the Taoiseach to express the sort of condemnation that most citizens would expect of him is simply compounding the damage."
Green Party TD Mr John Gormley said that "obviously there are many in Fianna Fail, including the Taoiseach, who fear that a chastened Mr Lawlor may now tell all to the tribunal".
The Dublin South East TD added: "In particular, the behaviour of the Taoiseach in this regard has been extremely shifty."