The leader of the Seanad, Mary O'Rourke, yesterday joined in the debate over Fianna Fáil coalition policy after the next election by stating a coalition deal with Labour was a possibility.
This view was at odds with Minister for Social and Family Affairs Séamus Brennan, who expressed a preference for another coalition between Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats.
Ms O'Rourke said on RTÉ's Today with Tom McGurk programme that "there well may be a change of partners dance after the election. Perhaps the Labour Party with Fianna Fail but I do think that Fianna Fail will be the main chasis of the engine".
Mr Brennan had argued that the Fianna Fáil/PD alliance should continue for another term. "I think we should not get distracted with other combinations, because that's to give up and assume we can't get re-elected."
The PDs have made it clear that they intend to fight the next election as a separate party and will not be entering any pre-election pact with Fianna Fáil. This has annoyed some members of the Cabinet, particularly as Mary Harney has said she would consider a coalition deal with Fine Gael if the numbers added up.
Notwithstanding Mr Brennan's preference, the prevailing view in Fianna Fáil is that the numbers for another coalition with the PDs will not add up after the election.
The Taoiseach has made it clear that, given such an outcome, he would like to avail of the option of a coalition with Labour, and that sentiment is shared by most of his Cabinet colleagues. However, the Labour Party has explicitly ruled out entering a coalition with Fianna Fáil.