The Government Chief Whip and the Green Party leader have played down talk of backbencher dissent within Fianna Fáil.
Newspaper polls today suggest a high level of dissatisfaction with the Taoiseach's leadership among backbenchers and voters.
Speaking on RTÉ radio, Minister for the Environment John Gormley said he does not believe Brian Cowen's position is under threat from an internal Fianna Fáil revolt.
Meanwhile, Government Chief Whip John Curran said he does not think the Government is in an unstable position.
Government Chief Whip John Curran has said that while the poll results are disappointing, he does not believe they reflect the true level of support for the party this week.
Speaking on This Week, Mr Curran said that decisions the party have taken are unpopular locally and constituency members around the country are hurting.
In relation to criticism from backbench party members, he said that it is a distraction from the serious issues that need to be dealt with, but he said there is no indication that Fianna Fáil members will not support Government policy.
Mr Gormley said he has a good working relationship with Mr Cowen, and he hoped that would continue.
He said he believed the level of dissatisfaction within Fianna Fáil was being exaggerated, and there is usually disappointment after a reshuffle, but it subsided after a couple of days.
Mr Gormley said distractions from the work of Government were unhelpful. He said people just wanted them to get on with the job and stop ‘political shenanigans’.
Earlier, Minister for Foreign Affairs Michéal Martin said Fianna Fáil would take a significant hammering if opinion poll results out today were repeated in a General Election.
Mr Martin was reacting to the survey in the Sunday Business Post today which shows support for his party down 3 points to 24%.
Fine Gael is up one point to 35%, while Labour remains unchanged at 17%.
The Green Party is unchanged at 5%, with Sinn Féin and Independents both up 1%.
The Red C poll also shows two thirds of voters do not believe that Mr Cowen can lead the country out of the current recession.
But Minister Martin says it is not just Brian Cowen's popularity that is suffering because of the global economic climate.
