The Opposition parties today tabled a Dail motion of censure on Independent Donegal deputy Mr Thomas Gildea for what they described as "unfounded" allegations against Fine Gael TD Mrs Nora Owen.
The motion will be taken in Private Members Time next Tuesday and Wednesday night.
The boycott of the Dail by Opposition parties continued for a second day today. They are to return to debate the affair when Dail sits again on Tuesday.
On Wednesday night in the Dail, Deputy Gildea said Mrs Owen should be investigated for abusing her powers and placing unacceptable pressure on gardai in Donegal while in office. The former minister for justice said she had been ruined by these untrue and unfounded allegations.
The Opposition walked out of the Dail yesterday in protest at the refusal by the Government to allow time for a motion of censure against Mr Gildea.
In a statement today Fine Gael spokesman on Justice, Law Reform & Defence, Mr Alan Shatter TD said deflect attention from Minister for Justice Mr O’Donoghue’s failure on McBrearty case.
Mr Shatter said in the statement: "A central question in the McBrearty affair is the failure of the Minister to provide any adequate explanation for his failure to order an exhumation of the remains of the late Richard Barron after receiving a request from the Donegal District Coroner for an exhumation order on the 10th October 1997.
"The controversy surrounding the remarks of Tom Gildea has succeeded in deflecting public attention from this very serious issue. The Minister should stop hiding behind Mr Gildea's outburst and give a full explanation for his conduct."
Earlier the Labour Party leader Mr Ruairi Quinn said Deputy Gildea needed a censure for a gross abuse of parliamentary privilege.
"This was a calculated, it was handwritten in advance, it was delivered slowly, and it attacks the character and the integrity of a former office holder," said Mr Quinn.
Speaking on RTE radio this morning, Mr Quinn was also critical of the current Minister for Justice Mr O’Donoghue for not stating the allegations were false because it was simply not within the remit of the Minister’s office.
He expressed concern that if Mr Gildea’s comments were to set a precedent, any type of allegation against the personal integrity of any person in Leinster House could be made and then the media could carry it leading to the damaging of the reputation of the accused person.
Mr Quinn called for tighter strictures so that such an abuse did not happen again.