Several Fianna Fáil TDs have privately criticised the way the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, criticised senior public health doctors over the weekend, and say it has backfired badly on the Government.
A number of backbench deputies yesterday said they believed the next week would be crucial in determining whether Mr Martin would be able to resolve the dispute and deal with the public confusion over SARS.
The Minister accused striking doctors of "total abandonment of responsibility", which sparked an angry response from the Irish Medical Organisation. It has threatened to escalate the dispute by involving other doctors this week.
"He made a mess of things in Killarney," said one backbench TD yesterday. "I can't understand why he said what he did. He seems to be getting bad advice on dealing with the issue, just like other ministers for health have done in the past on a whole range of things. At the moment he's just digging a hole for himself."
Another Fianna Fáil deputy said there had been a noticeable lack of support from senior Cabinet members and backbenchers.
"There is sympathy for him and what he's trying to do in the Department, but he's being hung out to dry by his Cabinet colleagues," the backbench TD said.
"The Taoiseach and Charlie McCreevy are just standing back and throwing in a few petrol bombs from time to time and seeing what happens. There's a big difference between their response to this and the support around Joe Jacob, when he got into trouble."
Another TD, who declined to be named, said: "At a time of crisis, it's the backbenchers who you draw your support from, but that's not happening. The feeling among some of us is that he's used up his credits."
However, sources close to the Minister said his comments had been "blown out of proportion" and dismissed suggestions that fellow Cabinet Ministers had been unusually silent on the issue.
One Department of Health source said: "The Minister was talking about the structural reform. He respects the right of anyone to strike, but in other organisations people in senior positions are exempt from taking part in industrial action. It would have been helpful in this case if some people were able to stay on in their positions."
Fine Gael will seek to make political capital out of the issue when the Dáil resumes next week. Mr Enda Kenny said his party would table a private members' motion which would highlight the "inadequate, confusing and contradictory communications" from the Minister and his advisers which had led to substantial public concern.
Meanwhile, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Mr Batt O'Keeffe, has invited senior public health officials this week to explain the State's response to the SARS threat.
