Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party meeting: The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has reasserted his authority within Fianna Fáil and has ruled out a Cabinet reshuffle before June 2004, despite recent calls by some backbenchers for changes in the ministerial team.
Speaking at the end of a two-day parliamentary party seminar in Sligo, Mr Ahern said that barring "unforeseen circumstances" there would be no Cabinet changes until after next year's local and European elections.
Coupled with his naming and criticism of two backbenchers on Wednesday for criticising ministers, his direct rejection of calls for a reshuffle marks a determination to end internal sniping and unite the party ahead of major political challenges.
The move, described by backbenchers in Sligo as uncharacteristically direct of Mr Ahern, comes as the Government tries to put the Laffoy controversy behind it and deal with the most difficult Budget negotiations since coming to power in 1997.
With Mr Ahern and his ministers also preparing for time-consuming talks on the North and for the EU presidency, his insistence on party unity is timed to quell any internal dissent in advance.
Mr Ahern appeared to win strong support among TDs and senators for rebuking the two backbenchers. He told reporters yesterday that Mr John McGuinness and Mr Ned O'Keeffe had gone against party rules by stating their criticism in the media. Mr McGuinness recently criticised the Cabinet for a lacklustre performance, while Mr O'Keeffe claimed the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, was out of touch with the views of farmers.
"We have a rule that dates back a long time that people state their views in the appropriate place," he told a press conference after the seminar. "The appropriate place in our party is the parliamentary party."
Mr Ahern said stating opinions within the party was a good thing, and that was what parliamentary party members had done over the past two days. "People are entitled to say what they think, and to say what their views are and to express their criticisms and plenty of them did that in the last few days in a constructive way. That's why we have meetings."
Mr Ahern said he had told the meeting yesterday that six of the 12 Fianna Fáil ministers had changed over six years. That's 50 per cent. Referring to journalists at the press conference, he added: "If you changed 50 per cent of political correspondents over that time there would be a huge crisis."
He also indicated that the code of conduct for the parliamentary party proposed earlier this year that would have barred members from criticising the party and Government in public may not now be proceeded with. "We are not trying to do anything other than have good sensible debate. If we need to tighten the rules, we will tighten them up but there is no need for that."
At a policy workshop on health, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, reiterated his intention to proceed with the ban on smoking in workplaces, including restaurants and pubs, from January next. While some deputies and senators support watering- down the plan, several conceded the ban would go ahead.