Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has refused to say what way he will vote in tomorrow's confidence vote on Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Arriving at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers, Mr Lenihan repeatedly refused to indicate what way he would vote.
However, he did say he was glad it was a secret ballot, adding that the Taoiseach had told him he had a majority of TDs supporting him.
He said he would make his position known ‘in advance of tomorrow's meeting.’
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin also refused to back the embattled Taoiseach this evening.
She refused to declare her intentions on RTE's Frontline programme saying it was not the appropriate forum.
However, she confirmed that if Brian Cowen lost the motion, she would put her name forward for the leadership.
Speaking on Six One News this evening Brian Cowen said that the Fianna Fáil party was in a fight and needed a fighter to lead it into the general election.
He said that he wanted to lead that fight and felt that he was equipped to do so.
Mr Cowen said he was absolutely convinced that he had the numbers necessary to pass tomorrow's motion and that he had acted honourably in seeking to put the question of his leadership to the party.
On the same programme, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said his reason for challeging Mr Cowen was that the very future of Fianna Fáil is at stake.
He said the vast majority of the people he had spoken to over the last number of days had agreed that change of leadership would be of benefit to the party and there was very little evidence of a vibrant, vigorous electoral machine being put in place.
Earlier today, Mr Martin has said he expects Mr Cowen to lose tomorrow's vote of confidence in his leadership of Fianna Fáil, but he expects the vote to be tight.
Mr Cowen announced yesterday that there would be a confidence motion on his leadership, which will be conducted in a secret ballot.
The numbers voting for or against the Taoiseach will not be made known.
There are 71 Fianna Fáil TDs eligible to vote, but Senators and MEPs will not be voting.
Minister Martin had earlier responded to criticism that he had not resigned from the Cabinet and mounted a direct challenge to Mr Cowen's leadership of Fianna Fáil.
Mr Martin said the vote of confidence was happening because of the action he had taken and he said he did not want to cause maximum damage to the party.
Asked if he will act on his resignation offer and quit the Government if Brian Cowen wins the vote, Minister Martin said he will abide by the decision at the meeting and see what happens after that.
The Taoiseach said this morning that Mr Martin's offer to resign will not be dealt with until after tomorrow night's meeting of the parliamentary party.
He said: 'We will see afterwards what the right and proper course of action is.'
Mr Cowen said he was confident of the outcome of the vote, but he declined to confirm if any other Cabinet members had asked him to resign.
He told RTÉ's The Week in Politics last night that even though he had the height of respect for those with reservations about his leadership of Fianna Fáil, the issue needed to be resolved now.
O'Dea calls on Cowen to resign
Former Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea has said he will not be supporting Mr Cowen and said he should resign as party leader.
Michael Kennedy, who will oppose the motion of confidence in Brian Cowen tomorrow, has said he hopes a number of candidates who have declared interest in leading Fianna Fáil will contest a leadership election in the event of Brian Cowen being defeated.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said earlier this evening that he still supports Mr Cowen as leader of Fianna Fáil.
Minister of State for Trade and Commerce Billy Kelleher and backbench TD Noel O'Flynn also said they will not be supporting Mr Cowen in the vote.
Mr Kelleher said: 'I believe the time has come for a change of leader who will put forward a positive agenda and engage with the public.
'It is therefore my view that a change of party leader at this time will allow Fianna Fáil to engage more fully with public opinion and better communicate its policy perspectives in advance of the polls.'
Chairman of the Oireachtas Economic and Regulatory Affairs Committee Michael Moynihan has said he will be voting against Mr Cowen.
Mr Moynihan told RTÉ News that he spoke to Mr Cowen last Thursday and Friday and he told him he felt he should resign as Fianna Fáil leader.
Andrews gives support to Cowen
Ministers Pat Carey and Barry Andrews say they will support Brian Cowen.
Mr Andrews said there was no ideal time to have a leadership challenge and he said it is not helpful 'at all' to do so in advance of a General Election.
Asked if he thought Mr Martin would be damaged by not resigning as a minister, Mr Andrews said it would not amount to much if he resigned now.
He said the big issue was to steady the Fianna Fáil party ahead of the General Election.
Mr Andrews said it is impossible to say if Mr Martin would have received more support if he had resigned from Cabinet.
He said the parliamentary party meeting would be robust and no holds barred.
Government Chief Whip John Curran said that tomorrow's vote should put the matter to rest.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Curran said: 'Brian Cowen, staying on not just as Taoiseach but as leader of Fianna Fail, is prepared for the battle.
'It's his ability to do that work that will determine the outcome of the vote on Tuesday evening.'
Reaction
In a statement, the Green Party said it looked forward to an early and definitive resolution of the Fianna Fáil leadership issue.
Fine Gael Communications Spokesperson Leo Varadkar said the need for change was never more immediate, given the events of recent days.
Labour Party Education Spokesman Ruairi Quinn claimed that Fianna Fáil has a history of putting itself first and not the country.
Sinn Féin has described the Taoiseach's decision to remain in office as disgraceful.
Elsewhere, the European Commission has declined to comment on political developments in Dublin and how they might impact on the passing of the finance bill.
Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said Ireland was on track in implementing the European Union / International Monetary Fund programme and was pursuing 'a difficult fiscal consolidation effort'.
He said the Commission had no reason to have concerns about that progress.
