The Mayo TD, Ms Beverley Cooper-Flynn, caused huge annoyance in Fianna Fail yesterday by refusing to attend a meeting to discuss her future with senior party figures.
However, she gave a television interview saying she had not considered resigning from the party.
"It was never a consideration that I was ever going to resign from the parliamentary party, That's simply an option that I never considered," she said.
The decision to give the interview, while refusing to meet the Government chief whip, Mr Seamus Brennan, and the party chairman, Mr Rory O'Hanlon, caused further anger within the party.
Ms Cooper-Flynn apparently had concerns that such a meeting could be prejudicial to her legal situation.
In a statement yesterday morning she said a meeting would not be appropriate until she had taken a decision on her appeal. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had said she was entitled to take time to consider her position, she said.
She sent a letter to Mr Brennan informing him of this, which was delivered during the morning Cabinet meeting. Mr Ahern also saw a copy of the letter. According to a Government spokesman, the issue was not discussed at the meeting.
Ms Cooper-Flynn was then sent a letter in response, again inviting her to attend a meeting with the two men. Mr Brennan had a brief conversation with her during a vote in the Dail chamber yesterday afternoon. That meeting is expected this morning. The matter is then to be raised at the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting.
Party sources said last night they were taken aback by Ms Cooper-Flynn's statement and wondered if she was trying to gain public sympathy in advance of a decision to stand as an Independent. "People are asking about the party with a capital P. In fairness to Liam Lawlor, when you wanted a meeting with him he would meet with you," a source said.
In an interview with TV3 news, Ms Cooper-Flynn said the Taoiseach had said that, under due process, anyone who took a case to the High Court was entitled, if they were not happy with the verdict, to look at its implications and consider their position.
"He said that I personally, in relation to my own case, was entitled to the time to make that decision. I very much respected and agreed with his views that he expressed two weeks ago in the Dail, and in fact that is exactly what I have been doing," she said.
Consultations had been ongoing with her legal representatives about an appeal. "I have made no final decision yet. I hope to do so as soon as possible and as soon as I make a final decision it is my intention to actually let the Taoiseach know what that decision is," she said.
She did not know how much support she had within the parliamentary party since she had not taken any soundings on the matter.
A Fine Gael TD, Mr Alan Dukes, said Mr Ahern should suspend Ms Cooper-Flynn from Fianna Fail. "It is commonplace in both the private and public sector for employers to suspend on full pay, employees who are under suspicion or investigation, pending the outcome of their cases," he said.