The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has vigorously denied that a proposed Fianna Fáil backbench committee reflected discontent within the parliamentary party.
Mr Ahern described the suggestion of disharmony as 'rubbish' and said he would be worried if backbenchers did not want an input into the party election manifesto.
More than a dozen TDs have put their names to the plan which would allow them voice concerns and have an input into party policy.
Earlier, one of the TDs setting up the committee, Barry Andrews, said backbenchers were sometimes viewed as a half-tolerated inconvenience.
Too many of the meetings, he said, consisted of Government explanations rather than real discussion. He added that there were never any votes on policy.
Deputy Barry Andrews of Dún Laoghaire, was speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland programme.
Deputy Andrews confirmed that an organisation was being set up within the party along the lines of the powerful backbench grouping in the British Conservatives known as the 1922 Committee.
