Mr John Ellis, the Sligo-Leitrim Fianna Fáil TD, has until noon today to honour a promise made over a year ago to repay farmers owed large sums of money after his meat company collapsed in 1986. However, Mr Ellis said yesterday that he "may not" make the deadline because of outstanding legal matters.
The Government had hoped that the matter would be resolved before the Taoiseach attends the annual general meeting of the Irish Farmers' Association tonight.
Mr Ellis reached agreement with the IFA in November 2000 to make a payment of €150,000 (£120,000) to 80 creditors left with unpaid invoices totalling about £300,000 (€380,000).
"The last deadline we agreed was last Friday, but he told us he had run into a small difficulty," said Mr Derek Cunningham, an IFA spokesman.
Mr Ellis told The Irish Times that "one or two small legal matters" were outstanding. "The minute these legal points are sorted, the money will be paid over, which will be this week," he said.
The TD said that both he and his brother, Leitrim county councillor Caillian Ellis, a co-director of the failed firm, had remortgaged their family homes to repay the debt and had "absolutely not" been assisted with party funds.
Today's noon deadline refers to the departure from office of Mr Tom Parlon, the outgoing IFA president. Mr Parlon, who negotiated the agreement with Mr Ellis, had insisted that the debt be repaid by the time his term finished.
The affair was a considerable embarrassment for Fianna Fáil, and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, who is due to attend the inauguration of the new IFA president in Dublin tonight, is believed to have wanted the matter resolved by then.
Mr Ellis and his brothers, Caillian and Richard, were directors of Stanlow Trading Ltd. Some debts were paid off when the company collapsed, but about 80 farmers were left with unpaid invoices ranging from €254 (£200) to €26,665 (£21,000).
Controversy erupted in 1999 when it emerged that National Irish Bank had written off a major debt and that the former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, had paid off another, thus allowing Mr Ellis to avoid bankruptcy, which would have forced him to vacate his Dáil seat.
The TD was forced to resign the chairmanship of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture.