The Minister for Education has insisted that it is the Public Offices Commission which will decide whether he has breached guidelines for office holders, despite the Taoiseach's Dáil statement that he had broken the rules.
In remarks seen initially as a challenge to the Taoiseach's authority to have declared him in breach of the guidelines, Mr Dempsey said it was not the Taoiseach who would decide whether he had breached conduct guidelines but the Standards in Public Office Commission.
He was referring to the controversy over his distribution to Fianna Fáil local election candidates, in Department of Education folders, of information prepared by civil servants in his Department.
Mr Dempsey moved quickly yesterday to insist his remarks involved no challenge to the Taoiseach's action after they were widely seen as an expression of annoyance at Mr Ahern's quick concession that his action was wrong.
On RTÉ's Six One news last night, Mr Dempsey sought to remove any suggestion he was challenging Mr Ahern's authority to pronounce on the matter, saying: "The Taoiseach was perfectly entitled to express his view on this in the Dáil yesterday."
He said the Public Offices Commission had sought information from him, and would decide whether to investigate the matter or make a ruling. He would not express a view on whether he had breached guidelines "out of courtesy" to the commission.
"I can't express my views. The Taoiseach is perfectly entitled to, and I did not take issue with what he said in the Dáil. I made a statement, maybe a little ineloquently, that it was a matter for the Public Offices Commission to make the final decision.
"I did not say the Taoiseach should not express a view on this. The Taoiseach has taken a view and I respect his view, and I know that he wants all of us as Ministers to obey the highest standards of probity and I agree with that 100 per cent."
He said he would never knowingly have breached ministerial guidelines.
In the Dáil, Mr Ahern had described Mr Dempsey's action as "wrong", and said it was a breach of the code of conduct for office holders. "I accept there was an error in that matter," Mr Ahern said. At the same time Mr Ahern rebuked Minister of State Mr Frank Fahey for using Government notepaper to invite businesspeople to a party fund-raiser.
Last night Labour's education spokeswoman, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, described Mr Dempsey's earlier statement as "a two-fingered gesture of defiance to the Taoiseach by a senior Minister".
She claimed his statement pointed to serious difficulties within Fianna Fáil.