The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has signalled support for the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, in his efforts to control the growth in health spending.
In comments that suggest a difference of emphasis from the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, the Taoiseach said yesterday that health funding was not a "bottomless pit".
Mr Ahern said the alternative to control over expenditure was higher taxation. He wanted value for taxpayers' money from the the service and said funding had to be linked to "reality".
He said: "It's right that we all aspire to a better health service, a better education service, and the Government totally agree to that. But the level you can get from A to B has to be linked to the reality."
Mr Ahern said that health expenditure had increased by €900 million this year and that there was still a "very attractive" capital programme in the area.
Mr Martin "continued to recruit staff more than anywhere else", Mr Ahern said.
"He has 34 per cent of the total increase of additional expenditure this year on his own and of course he is doing the best he can to get value for that money."
The Taoiseach's comments in an interview on RTÉ Radio came days after Mr Martin said the Government was in danger of undermining its own achievements in the health area.
Despite Mr Martin's assertion last Wednesday that the Government should not lose sight of the "bigger picture" on the development of the health service, his spokeswoman said yesterday that he fully supported moves to increase efficiency in the sector.
A number of major hospitals have warned of cutbacks in recent weeks due to a funding squeeze. Mr Ahern said he could "never win" arguments about health cutbacks but said the Government had "phenomenally increased" funding for the service.
He added: "I do not hear anybody saying that they would be glad to pay significantly higher taxes in this country to put more money into the health service."
Sources close to the Mr Martin dismissed reports that figures in Fianna Fáil were interpreting his comments as a signal of an early move to succeed Mr Ahern.
The Taoiseach repeated the view that there was no "personality or policy difference" between Mr Martin and Mr McCreevy. In Greece, for a meeting of EU finance ministers, Mr McCreevy said that Mr Martin was the "nicest fellow" in the Government.
Mr McCreevy said: "Every Minister would like daily to be going out announcing good news. It's like in a household. Lots of people would like to stay on a permanent holiday. The Minister for Finance is the purse keeper. Everything cannot be a priority."
Mr Ahern said Mr Martin had "done very well" from a funding perspective this year. He added, however, that Mr Martin would not be doing his job if he did not "fight his corner". Equally, however, Mr McCreevy had to control expenditure.
Mr Ahern said he knew there were problems but added: "We're spending €9.2 billion. . . on our health system. Not too many years ago we were spending under €4 billion."
In a separate comment during his interview, Mr Ahern said "unemployment will move up but hopefully not too much". It was important for the economy to remain competitive and continue to attract foreign direct investment, he said.