The Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, has said he was not surprised at last night's decision by Fianna Fáil backbencher, Ned O'Keeffe, to resign from the parliamentary party.
Mr Cowen said that once it became clear Mr O'Keeffe was not supporting the motion of confidence in Mary Harney, had he not resigned, he would have had to leave the parliamentary anyway.
Mr Cowen said it was a matter for Mr O'Keeffe to decide on the circumstances under which he would reapply to return to the party.
Mr Cowen continued by saying that obviously they do not like seeing anybody leave the parliamentary party, but Mr O'Keeffe took his decision, it was a deliberate decision and he knew there were consequences.
Earlier, Government Chief Whip Tom Kitt has expressed his regret that Cork East TD Ned O'Keeffe decided to resign from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
Mr O'Keefe resigned the party whip ahead of last night's vote in the Dáil on a no-confidence motion on Minister for Health Mary Harney.
The Government defeated the motion by 83 votes to 73. Mr O'Keefe abstained.
In a statement last night, Mr Kitt said Mr O'Keeffe had been a longstanding member of Fianna Fáil and a great servant to his own electoral area.
Mr Kitt said he hoped Mr O'Keefe would be back in the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party in the future.
The Taoiseach has said that he believes the day will come when Ned O’Keeffe will be back in Fianna Fáil.
Mr Ahern said Mr O'Keeffe epitomised everything that is good about Fianna Fáil and was ingrained in the Fianna Fáil tradition.
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Micheál Martin, said he had made a huge contribution.
While Longford-Westmeath TD Mary O'Rourke expressed her hope that there would be redemption or forgiveness along the way.
Labour leader Eamonn Gilmore insisted that if there had been a free vote, his party's motion of no confidence in Minister Harney would have been passed.
Meanwhile the Minister of State for Food and Horticulture, Trevor Sargent, said he has a problem with the plan for cancer services in the northwest and said he will be asking the health minister to review it.
He said there were transport problems in the region and that it was a long way from anywhere mentioned in the government's plans.
Mr Sargent said he had spoken to the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Dr. Jimmy Devins, who has already expressed reservations about the government's health plans.
