The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is preparing to appoint the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, to a special Cabinet group overseeing the implementation of the controversial Hanly Report health reforms, writes Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter.
The move comes after Mr Smith was rebuked by Mr Ahern for his public criticism of the Hanly Report, and his concern that it might lead to a downgrading of Nenagh hospital in his Tipperary North constituency. After expressing his concerns three times last week, Mr Smith issued a statement expressing regret for saying in public that he opposed parts of the plan.
Sources told The Irish Times last night that Mr Ahern is to give Mr Smith a crucial role in the health reform process by appointing him to a new sub-committee of the Cabinet Committee on Health.
With Mr Ahern demanding discipline from the Cabinet and the Fianna Fáil backbenches on the health reform issue, Mr Smith's involvement will be seen as a move to appease TDs and senators who have worries that the reform process will downgrade services in their constituencies.
While Mr Smith has said he is "fully committed" to the health policy and decisions of the Government, he has insisted that "local opinion and experiences must be taken fully into account" in the health reform programme.
Mr Smith is expected to be among a number of Ministers to be appointed to the new sub-committee on health which will have a crucial oversight role as the Government seeks to move the reform agenda into the implementation phase. Mr Smith is not already a member of the wider Cabinet Committee on Health, whose members' work is related in a general way to social services and rural development.
These include the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan; the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey; and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Caoimh.
But while his Defence portfolio is far removed from health, Mr Smith's public concerns about the reform are said to reflect those of many members of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party.