A Fianna Fail TD, Mr John Moloney, has threatened to resign his Dail seat because of a dispute over cancer services in the midlands, endangering the position of the minority Government.
The Laois/Offaly TD made his feelings known at a meeting of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party on Wednesday. It is understood he wants the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to make a statement backing his position on the location of the cancer services before a certain date, or else he will resign his seat. Senior party sources attempted to play down the threat yesterday, stating that feelings were running high in the run-up to the local elections.
In a statement last night Mr Moloney confirmed he had threatened to resign unless his "strong concerns" were addressed. He said that in recent days there had been a number of productive meetings with the Taoiseach, ministers and senior party members and he felt confident that his "concerns about the expansion and future of Portlaoise Hospital will be addressed".
At Wednesday's meeting the Taoiseach was speaking about the new Fianna Fail code of conduct and the need for party unity, not just at national but also at local level.
When Mr Moloney spoke, according to sources, he was upset and said he had been "taking it in the neck" locally without assistance from the party nationally.
The dispute has been going on for over a year and centres on the location of cancer services in the area. There have been rallies in Portlaoise to protest at what is seen as the planned downgrading of the local hospital after the National Cancer Strategy recommended the centralising of the services in Tullamore.
In April last year, the Midland Health Board voted not to centralise the services, spreading them between Mullingar, Portlaoise and Tullamore. This decision was rescinded and cancer services were to be upgraded at all three hospitals, with Tullamore acting as a "lead" hospital.
However, in March Fine Gael TD Mr Charles Flanagan was granted leave to seek a judicial review of the decision by the Midland Health Board to relocate cancer services to Tullamore General Hospital from Portlaoise General Hospital.