Mr Ned O'Keeffe is expected to resign or be sacked as a Minister of State in the next two days as an investigation begins into his alleged breach of ethics legislation.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, plans to force his departure over the weekend following the Public Offices Commission decision on Thursday to investigate whether Mr O'Keeffe, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, breached the Ethics in Public Office Act.
The investigation concerns his non-disclosure of his family farm's licence to feed meat-and-bonemeal to pigs.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach confirmed last night that Mr Ahern "intends to deal with the issue" but would not elaborate. However, it is understood that Mr Ahern's view that Mr O'Keeffe should quit has already been communicated to the Minister, and that Mr Ahern may contact him personally today.
There is speculation that Mr O'Keeffe may choose to resign today. He could not be contacted for comment last night. Ministers of State are appointed by the Cabinet rather than by the Taoiseach, so technically Mr Ahern cannot dismiss him. However, should he decline to quit, he could be removed from office at Monday's Cabinet meeting.
Mr O'Keeffe, who is believed to have spent yesterday in his Cork East constituency, has consistently denied that he had done anything wrong throughout the controversy, which has gone on for over two months.
Mr Ahern's decision to act comes after the Public Offices Commission announced on Thursday night that it "considers that it is appropriate to carry out an investigation under Section 23 of the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995, to determine if Mr Ned O'Keeffe TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, contravened Part 2 of the Act, relating to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, or Part 3 of the Act, relating to office-holders".
Mr O'Keeffe led Government opposition to and voted against a Labour Party private members' motion on November 30th, 2000, calling for a ban on the feeding of meat-and-bonemeal to all animals.
Labour says he should have declared in advance that his family farm had a meat-and-bonemeal licence, and that he therefore had a material interest in the vote. The Ethics in Public Office Act requires that such a material interest be declared to the Public Offices Commission before any vote.
Mr Ahern has decided to act to avoid further political damage arising from the affair rather than await the outcome of the Public Offices Commission investigation.
His decision comes at the end of a week in which he declined several times to say he had confidence in Mr O'Keeffe. A PD source last night acknowledged that Mr Ahern was going to take action. "There are understandable concerns about the current situation, and it is important that we have confidence in the Minister responsible for food safety at all times," the source said.
The commission's investigation, the first of its kind, may take several months. It said on Thursday that the fact that the investigation was to take place "is not to be construed as meaning that a provision of the Act has been contravened by the Minister of State. The purpose of the investigation is to establish the facts of the matter".