The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, has no option but to resign following her humiliation as a result of yesterday's Budget, it was claimed yesterday.

Speaking during the Budget debates, Mr Brendan Howlin (Lab) said the Minister had put her job on the line for the inclusion of substantial increases in overseas development aid, which had not been delivered in Wednesday's Budget.

Mr Howlin claimed that in a recent radio interview the Minister said " . . . in the context of a caring Budget it is imperative that we share our bounty with those people whose poverty has no parallel with our own."

Ms O'Donnell had, said Mr Howlin, "walked to the edge of the plank in the belief that the Government, and particularly the Minister, would help her back but they didn't."

However, Mr Howlin said the issue was just one of a number of "kite-flying exercises" carried out over the past number of weeks, on which nothing had been included in the Budget.

He said the Fianna Fail deputy Ms Marian McGennis had taken part in a march to the Dail in recent weeks to highlight the need for child care allowances for working parents, but again nothing was done.

In addition, Mr Howlin said the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, had spoken in recent times of the need for green taxes - "probably the most spectacular example of kite-flying, but nothing has been done and time is running out", Mr Howlin claimed.