Recent weeks have seen anxious Fine Gael backbenchers approach some of the party's leadership contenders, and those around them, and question whether they were actually up for the task of taking over from Enda Kenny?

The chatter among certain TDs has been about whether some of those aspiring to leadership had the desire, or wanted to talk about life after Kenny.

All such talk had been postponed until the Taoiseach formed a Government and it was allowed to bed down, although the past week has shown this coalition construct is far from stable.

But the talk could not be postponed any longer and comments made at a meeting of the parliamentary party on Wednesday night - where Louth’s Fergus O’Dowd called for “fresh leadership” - have given licence to others to express similar sentiments publicly.

On Morning Ireland, Cork South West's Jim Daly said Kenny should make his intentions known after the budget, a coded way of saying the Taoiseach should stand aside before Christmas.

Later, on the Sean O'Rourke show, Kildare South's Martin Heydon - the steady and respected chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party - said he would like to know there is a "plan in place" on leadership succession.

Heydon indicated that Kenny should stand aside and allow a leadership contest take place at a time when the Government is not busy. That effectively means two windows: post budget or in the summer.

There is no denying it now. The Fine Gael leadership, an issue that remained subterranean for so long, is out in the open.

It is in that context that comments from Simon Coveney - who, along with Leo Varadkar and Frances Fitzgerald, is seen as one of the leading contenders - must be seen.

Coveney, while saying Kenny must be allowed make his own mind up on when he steps aside, said he expects the leadership of the party to be discussed in the “not too distant future”.

“Fine Gael needs to think ahead,” he said. “We need to think about an election in a few years time and there are all sorts of issues internally in the party that need to be discussed and debated and resolved in that context.”

Varadkar this morning too said he is interested in leadership but also said Kenny must be allowed come to his own decisions. Nobody is keen to wield the knife but any more political blunders such as appointing James Reilly as deputy leader of the party could prompt action.

Both Varadkar and, in particular, Coveney are sending signals to Fine Gael TDs.

They are effectively telling the parliamentary party that, yes, they hear their concerns about Kenny and will act on it, possibly soon. Both are telling party TDs they have the desire to talk about leadership.

Change is unlikely this side of summer but the presumption that Kenny would be given one budget before departing is now being questioned, even though it remains the most likely scenario.

Any suggestions that he could go on for another year or more after the October budget, however, have been pretty well dispelled.