The Taoiseach has denied that he is preparing to appoint the Minister for Defence, Mr Michael Smith, to a special Cabinet group overseeing implementation of health reform, but has not ruled out involving him in the future.
Asked yesterday about a report in this newspaper that he was preparing to appoint Mr Smith, he said: "No, it's not the case. No, it's not a correct report." He said he had not appointed Mr Smith to the sub-committee.
Asked, however, if he was going to appoint him he said: "Ah well that's another matter. Maybe The Irish Times will come up with good suggestions but I haven't [appointed him]."
While the Taoiseach did not yesterday rule out the possibility of Mr Smith being involved at some stage, a Government spokeswoman said later: "He is not being called in on this particular issue at this particular time."
Senior political sources had told The Irish Times on Thursday that Mr Ahern was preparing to give Mr Smith a role in the health reform process by appointing him to the Cabinet sub-committee, as his views represented those of many within the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party.
The Cabinet decided last Tuesday that its sub-committee on health, which has not met for some time, should meet again shortly. Its members are the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Ministers for Health and Finance. The spokeswoman said that other Ministers are called in from time to time to discuss matters that relate to their portfolios, indicating involvement by Mr Smith could not be ruled out.
Mr Smith declined to comment yesterday. He expressed regret last week after publicly criticising a core element of the Government's health reform package, the Hanly report.
However, the Taoiseach sarcastically denied the report yesterday.
"Nobody told me about it", he told reporters. "I'm sure The Irish Times are ahead of me but they don't tell me everything. I'd have to consult with my paid advisers in The Irish Times to check where they got that story from. I was out of the country yesterday on EU business and nobody told me about that. But on the basis that The Irish Times have appointed a health committee for me, I'm sure that they are right."
He warned that it would take time to implement the Brennan, Prospectus and Hanly reports on health reform. "It's going to take a lot of effort, it's going to take a lot of work."
Membership of the health executive agency, which would drive the reform programme, would be announced next week, he said.
"This will in my view take 10 years. It has to be done in consultation. It's a small country. You have to take into account geographics and demographics. That's always taken into account in this country."