Ms Beverley Cooper-Flynn's appeal to the Supreme Court against her High Court libel defeat is unlikely to be heard in advance of the general election.
This would leave Fianna Fβil facing a decision on whether to de-select her as a candidate in the Mayo constituency.
Ms Cooper-Flynn was expelled from the Fianna Fβil parliamentary party in April pending the outcome of her appeal. She had earlier been selected as a candidate at a constituency convention, and the decision had been ratified by the party's national executive before the High Court libel case went ahead last March.
According to a senior party source, her selection is now undecided. The source said the matter was still not entirely resolved, but "the bullet would have to be bitten" in advance of a general election, expected to be held in May.
The party has chosen four candidates in Mayo, including Ms Cooper-Flynn. The concern of the party leadership is that, if de-selected, she would run as an independent candidate in the five-seat constituency.
In an interview on local radio, after she lost the party whip in April, Ms Cooper-Flynn said it remained to be seen whether she had a future in Fianna Fβil but there was no need to de-select her.
"Nobody can say from one week to the next what the situation is in politics. There is no need for a de-selection or a change in my position just because the whip is gone. I have been selected to run for Mayo and there is no change in the position there. I have had the whip removed before and I had to fight an election in Mayo before without it and I topped the poll in Castlebar."
Ms Cooper-Flynn lodged a full appeal against the High Court decision in May. It is understood to centre on a claim that the trial judge allowed defence lawyers greater latitude than he should have done. The appeal covers a wide range of legal points and may necessitate a three-day Supreme Court hearing.
According to legal sources, the Supreme Court list is full until April. As part of the appeal, it is also necessary to lodge the lengthy transcript of the seven-week High Court case and provide five copies, one for each Supreme Court judge in the case.
The High Court case, which was the longest libel trial in the history of the State, lasted for 28 days and there were more than 10,000 pages of documents.
The jury decided RT╔ had proved that Ms Cooper-Flynn, while working for National Irish Bank, had advised or encouraged a number of persons to evade tax, but they also found the defendants - RT╔, Charlie Bird and Mr James Howard - had not proved the TD had induced Mr Howard to evade tax.
It awarded no damages to Ms Cooper-Flynn, finding that her reputation had not suffered through the broadcasts.
Costs were awarded against her. She faces estimated legal fees of up to £2 million from the trial.
Ms Cooper-Flynn has said that she does not have £2 million to meet the estimated legal costs and that she is not wealthy.
She also said that her father, the former EU commissioner, Mr Padraig Flynn, would not be in a position to "bail her out."