The Taoiseach's handling of the resignation of Mr Justice Flood as chairman of the planning tribunal which bears his name has been strongly criticised by Opposition leaders in the Dáil today.
A question was raised over whether Mr Ahern gained political advantage in addressing the issue with Fine Gael's Mr Enda Kenny accusing the Taoiseach of acting as if he owned the tribunal and Labour's Mr Pat Rabbitte wondering whether the Taoiseach had "a grand plan to reconfigure the planning tribunal to his own political advantage".
Party leaders criticised the Taoiseach's failure to tell the House of Mr Flood's intention to resign sooner and the slowness in acceding to a request by Mr Justice Flood for extra judges to be appointed to assist him in his work.
Mr Kenny suggested a motive for the apparent tardiness: "In June 2001, an overworked Justice Flood requests more judges. He gets them in March 2002. That delay makes sure there are no public hearings damaging to FF before the election. Save the Party."
Sinn Féin's Caoimhghin Ó Caoláin warned that the taxpayer could be faced with meeting the legal costs of the tribunal if the legislation to pass the chair of the inquiry to Mr Justice Alan Mahon - who will deal with the thorny issue of costs - is not properly framed.
During a debate on a motion to change the terms of the tribunal to facilitate the change of chairman, Mr Ó Caoláin said: "We face the nightmare scenario of the taxpayer paying massive legal costs to some of the members of the rogues' gallery who have appeared at the Tribunal."
The Sinn Féin leader in the House suggested separate legislation should be introduced to "regulate the exorbitant fees of legal teams involved in tribunals".