Labour is to demand Dail statements tomorrow from the Taoiseach and Mr Ned O'Keeffe after conflicting accounts of the circumstances of the Minister of State's resignation.
A Government spokesman could not say last night when Mr O'Keeffe's replacement would be chosen, and whether Mr Ahern would use the vacancy to reshuffle his junior ministers substantially.
Yesterday Mr Ahern backed up Mr O'Keeffe's assertion that he had not been "pushed", agreeing he had resigned voluntarily. In comments to reporters in Dublin Mr Ahern retreated from suggestions on Friday that he was to put pressure on Mr O'Keeffe.
His spokesman had promised on Friday evening that Mr Ahern would "deal with the issue" over the weekend, leading to speculation that Mr O'Keeffe was to be pushed to resign. Yet Mr Ahern said yesterday that at 4 p.m. Mr O'Keeffe had already told him he would resign.
Mr Ahern said yesterday: "I just want to confirm that Ned O'Keeffe informed me on Friday that he was resigning. He was not pushed."
Therefore the impression that Mr Ahern was to take action against a reluctant Minister has been replaced by an agreement by him that the Minister agreed to resign voluntarily without pressure. Meanwhile, there has been no comment from the Taoiseach on Mr O'Keeffe's claim that Mr Ahern had reneged on a deal that would have seen the Minister of State moved to a new job rather than resigning.
"The Taoiseach has withdrawn from everything, I have to admit, and the deal has gone by the board," Mr O'Keeffe told RTE on Saturday, after he announced his resignation as Minister of State with responsibility for food.
He maintained a deal had been struck with Mr Ahern before Christmas. "There was a further meeting last week in his office and he said to me: `you know . . . I'll be transferring you', so there was an arrangement."
Labour leader Mr Ruairi Quinn said yesterday that Mr Ahern told the Dail on Wednesday that "due process" would have to be observed before any action was taken.
Yet it appeared he had private discussions with Mr O'Keeffe about moving him from his post before such "due process" was completed.
A Labour Party spokesman said last night they would seek a full explanation in the Dail as to the circumstances of the resignation.
Mr O'Keeffe resigned after the Public Offices Commission decided on Thursday night to hold an investigation into whether he had breached the Ethics in Public Office Act.
This was in relation to his failure to declare that his family farm held a licence to feed meat-and-bone meal to pigs before he voted against a Dail motion to ban such feeding.
Sources close to Mr O'Keeffe said yesterday that his decision to resign on Friday afternoon followed contact from the Taoiseach's office - although not the Taoiseach himself - during which he was put under intense pressure to quit.
He was told at one stage that refusing to go would jeopardise Fianna Fail's chances at the next general election, according to the sources.
Mr O'Keeffe said he was resigning to concentrate on proving his innocence in the investigation by the Public Offices Commission, and to save embarrassment to the Taoiseach.
He asked that the Public Offices Commission investigation take place as soon as possible and in public.
He said he was confident an investigation into an alleged breach of ethics would exonerate him.
Yesterday Mr Ahern acknowledged that Mr O'Keeffe was disappointed with reports - inspired by information from sources close to the Taoiseach on Friday - that he was to be forced to resign.
"I have no dispute with Ned O'Keeffe whatsoever. I know he was disappointed with the way yesterday morning it seemed that he was pushed.
"In actual fact he told me at four o'clock on Friday evening that he was resigning and would be doing an interview with RTE and would be issuing a press release and that's precisely what he did."