Fianna Fáil figures in Government have denied reports that they are courting the support of Independent TDs to allow them end their coalition with the PDs but remain in office.
Two Independent TDs, Mr Finian McGrath and Mr James Breen, confirmed yesterday that they have had recent discussions with senior Government figures about the circumstances in which they would support a minority Fianna Fáil government.
Mr McGrath said the Government "has been love-bombing us for the last week or so".
A spokeswoman for the Taoiseach implicitly accepted that there have been recent contacts with Independents, but said: "No special approaches are being made."
She said there were contacts between Government and Independents from time to time, but "no special arrangements are being made with Independents over and above what is considered normal contact".
The Minister for Education, Ms Hanafin, last night also dismissed reports that a Government break-up was in the offing. "The Government is as solid as it ever was. There is no question of us dumping the PDs, and I think there is even less likelihood of them dumping us," she said on RTÉ's The Week in Politics programme.
The reports of tensions between the parties come as Fianna Fáil attempts to redefine itself as a "caring" party. This has led to differences of emphasis between the two parties on Aer Lingus.
There has also been some discomfort in PD circles at Mr Ahern's recent rhetorical embrace of socialism and derogatory references to those he terms as "right wing".
The Tánaiste yesterday played down suggestions of such tensions, saying they were "not evident to me".
In relation to reports that the Taoiseach was talking to Independents, she told RTÉ's This Week programme: "The Taoiseach is a man who is always talking to people. If the Government were to break up, I don't believe an alternative government could be sustained for very long on the basis of Independents."
However, Mr McGrath said yesterday that if a Government depended on the Independents it would be "very strong and stable". He had more than one discussion with senior Government figures on the issue, but he did not know if the approaches were serious.
He said he would want a commitment that Aer Lingus remain in State ownership, commitments on further resources for the disability sector and that two local issues in his Dublin North Central constituency be resolved before committing himself.
Clare Independent Mr James Breen said a Minister had asked him if he would support a Fianna Fáil government in the event of a break-up of the coalition, but he could not say if this was a serious approach.
Independents Mr Tony Gregory, Dr Jerry Cowley and Ms Marian Harkin said yesterday that they had received no contacts from Government that they would consider to be serious approaches to seek their support for a minority government.
Meanwhile, a Sunday Independent/Millward Brown IMS opinion poll has shown some recovery in Fianna Fáil's standing among voters. The poll was taken last Wednesday and Thursday, and so was not influenced by the Estimates published on Thursday.
The state of the parties according to the poll is: Fianna Fáil, 37 per cent, up two since the last similar poll in March this year; Fine Gael, 23 per cent, up two points; Labour, 13 per cent, up one; Sinn Féin, 10 per cent, unchanged; Green Party, 5 per cent, down two; Progressive Democrats, 4 per cent, up one; and Independents, 9 per cent, down 3.
The result of the 2002 general election was: Fianna Fáil, 41.5 per cent; Fine Gael, 22 per cent; Labour, 11 per cent; SF, 6.5 per cent; PDs, 4 per cent; Green Party, 4 per cent; Others, 11 per cent.