Fine Gael is threatening to take the Leinster House authorities to court in an attempt to block a move to reform Oireachtas-provided printing services for TDs and Senators.
Relations between the party and Ceann Comhairle Dr Rory O'Hanlon, who chairs the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission that runs the building, have become strained because of the issue.
"We have now instructed our three printers - one of whom has been with us for nearly 15 years - not to co-operate with these changes," an official in the office of Enda Kenny, the Fine Gael leader, declared.
Currently, each of the largest parties has recruited their own printers and runs separate operations in Leinster House to supply hundreds of thousands of pages of documents annually.
Warning that existing systems were "grossly inefficient", experts employed by the commission recommended in March that the printing operations should be amalgamated.
Despite "an almighty row" last July, the proposal was accepted by the commission after a vote - the first time any issue had to be put to a vote at the body.
However, Fine Gael has received what it calls "preliminary legal advice" that indicates the commission had acted improperly, and would, if challenged, be overruled by the courts.
"Fine Gael's privileges in this area are governed by a statutory instrument, which has not become invalid because of the existence of the commission," Mr Kenny's aide told The Irish Times.
"Our printers have shown great solidarity with us. They are employed by Fine Gael, even though they are paid for by the State," he said, before criticising the lack of support offered to date by other Opposition parties.
The changes have caused considerable irritation within the Fine Gael parliamentary party, which argues it would lose control over its printing arrangements.
"Furthermore, there is an issue of confidentiality about what all parties do in the constituencies. Parties have a right to some privacy in this area," the party official declared.
