Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has suggested that Bertie Ahern's position as Taoiseach may become untenable if the controversy over payments made to him continues to escalate.
Speaking at the National Ploughing Championships Mr Kenny said that if he was in the same position he would no longer be leader of Fine Gael.
Speaking at the same event Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said grave issues were now in the public domain and the Taoiseach had to deal with them.
Mr Rabbitte claimed that the Taoiseach still does not realise the seriousness of the situation facing him.
He said the issues that have emerged in the past week raise some of the most serious questions faced by any Taoiseach since the Haughey era.
Mr Rabbitte also said that, on the face of it, there had been a grave breach of a ministerial code of conduct and the Tánaiste and PD leader Michael McDowell had to ask himself if he was prepared to stand over that.
The Tánaiste has said there are 'very significant matters of concern' which must still be clarified in relation to the payment to the Taoiseach of £8000 in Manchester when he was Minister for Finance.
Michael McDowell told reporters that he had spoken to Mr Ahern about the matter, and had read a transcript of an interview the Taoiseach gave in Cavan today, but that the facts now in the public domain did not put those concerns to rest.
Mr McDowell said there must be accountability in Dáil Éireann on these matters, at a level that would satisfy public opinion.
Mr McDowell also said that he had spoken to the Taoiseach and outlined his concerns.
This afternoon the Taoiseach denied that he was in any way compromised by the situation.
Mr Ahern said that it was a private function that he attended and that he was not there in his capacity as minister.
Following bad-tempered exchanges on the Order of Business this morning, the Government Chief Whip, Tom Kitt, agreed to meet his Opposition counterparts and to consider their request for a question and answer session on the issue.
The Government has proposed 35 minutes of statements on the Taoiseach's financial affairs next Tuesday.
A Government spokesperson has noted that Taoiseach had twice volunteered information about the receipt of £8000 for a public speaking appearance in Manchester.
The spokesperson noted that the Taoiseach offered the information at the Mahon Tribunal and again on RTÉ's Six One news programme on Tuesday.
She said that Bertie Ahern had already answered questions on the matter in the Dáil, and was happy to return to the House next Tuesday to answer any further questions that may arise.
Editor of The Irish Times Geraldine Kennedy and correspondent Colm Keena are to be questioned by the Mahon Tribunal tomorrow about the leaking of details of private payments to the Taoiseach.
