TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen yesterday apologised for using an expletive in the Dáil, describing the word as inappropriate irrespective of the circumstances in which it was said.
However, Mr Cowen also took the opportunity to criticise again what he described as an "orchestrated tactic" by Fine Gael to heckle him during Leaders' Questions.
Speaking after his appearance at the National Forum on Europe in Dublin Castle, Mr Cowen said: "I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill.
"But the fact of the matter is that a private comment was made to a colleague.
"It wasn't appropriate. It isn't appropriate whether it's inside the Dáil or outside the Dáil. And I apologise for it. I put my hand up. It's the mannerly and manly thing to do."
He pointed out that the comments were not addressed to the House or appeared on the record of the House.
Turning to Fine Gael, he said that the party had made numerous interruptions when he was trying to respond on Wednesday to party leader Enda Kenny's question on funding for palliative care and mental health services.
"I think there were 44 interruptions that were noted on the record in respect of me trying to reply to the question to which they were seeking an answer.
"I just felt that it was an orchestrated tactic that needed to be called for what it was . . . I simply made the point that that's not the way that we should conduct our business.
"And we could all start playing that game and turn it into a circus. And I don't think that's the way the nation want us to do the business in the parliament. I was just throwing back the jibe that, you know, we can all start this crack."
He denied he had threatened the Opposition by saying that he could arrange for Fianna Fáil TDs to heckle Fine Gael health spokesman James Reilly each time he spoke.
"Look, I don't think it was a threat at all. I was specifically confirming to people that we can all play this game . . . In fact, if you look at the record of the House, the Ceann Comhairle tried to interject eight times in that period to ask could I reply without interruption."
Responding in Irish to a question he said: "It was not a good example. I know it is important that I do not do that again."
Minister for Health Mary Harney played down the comments, suggesting that all politicians use inappropriate language from time to time.
"I'm not going to be holier than thou and politically correct. Everyone here uses inappropriate language from time to time and the Taoiseach is no different from anybody else," she said.
"The Taoiseach is a blunt person, he is a straight talker. He is a gutsy person that makes decisions and I admire him as I think many others do as well.
"I'd say there are very few people in the Opposition who don't use inappropriate language from time to time. The reality is there aren't microphones around everybody all the time.
"That is the benefit and the distraction of the electronic media. In the day of the pen this could not have happened."
However, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore homed in on the substance of Mr Cowen's remarks on Wednesday.
"There has been a great deal of writing up on Brian Cowen that he was going to put us all away with his handling of Leaders' Questions. We have not seen any evidence of it.
"He did not have the answer to my question yesterday, where he had to ask the Tánaiste to get a handle on it. Nor did he have the answer last week when I asked about the issue of co-located hospitals," said Mr Gilmore.