The Government last night dismissed claims by Labour that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, misled the Dáil when announcing last week's Cabinet reshuffle.
A row over procedure developed when it emerged that the outgoing minister of state for transport, Dr Jim McDaid, had not completed a letter of resignation before Mr Ahern announced the reshuffle last week.
The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, suggested that Mr Ahern had seriously misled the Dáil last Wednesday by stating in the Chamber that he had "accepted the resignation of Deputy McDaid".
Dr McDaid's letter was received only on Monday, meaning that the appointment of Mr Conor Lenihan as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs did not take effect until yesterday.
Mr Rabbitte pointed out that the Taoiseach had mentioned Mr Lenihan's appointment in the Dáil on Thursday, despite the fact that there was no vacancy to fill until Dr McDaid completed his letter of resignation.
"It now appears that the Taoiseach purported to appoint a member of the Dáil to a position of Minister of State for which there was no vacancy," Mr Rabbitte said. "There is at the very minimum a requirement on the Taoiseach to come into the House, to correct the record in regard to the resignation of minister of State McDaid and to apologise for misleading the Dáil."
However, Mr Ahern's official spokeswoman rejected the suggestion that the Taoiseach misled the Dáil and said the completion of the statutory formalities "in no way" altered the information he gave to the House.
"The resignation of a minister of State requires the completion of statutory formalities. This process requires receipt of a letter. This letter was requested by the Taoiseach early on Thursday morning and received on Monday, October 4th. This completed the statutory formalities."
The row developed during Leaders' Questions yesterday when Mr Ahern said he did not ask Dr McDaid for a letter of resignation when he met him on Wednesday and did so only on Thursday morning.
"When I gave the list of appointments to the House on Thursday morning, I had not received that letter. I now have the letter from Deputy McDaid, so the statutory duty is fulfilled."
The Government has approved the allocation of duties to ministers of State, including Mr Conor Lenihan's responsibility for overseas development and human rights.
Mr Frank Fahey in the Department of Justice is responsible for equality. Mr Pat "the Cope" Gallagher in Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is responsible for the marine.
Mr John Browne in Agriculture is responsible for forestry, while Mr Brendan Smith in the same Department is responsible for food and horticulture.
Mr Ivor Callely in Transport is responsible for traffic management, road haulage and the Irish Aviation Authority. Mr Tony Killeen in Enterprise, Trade and Employment is responsible for labour affairs including training.
Mr Noel Treacy in the Department of the Taoiseach is responsible for European affairs, while Mr Seán Power in Health is responsible for health promotion.
