The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern will this week start handing out the lucrative Oireachtas committee jobs which he hopes will help placate his unhappy backbenchers.
Mr Ahern has 14 committee chairmanships to fill, and he will use the allocation of the jobs as a way of placating disappointed backbenchers who failed to secure ministerial promotion. Chairmen of Oireachtas committees receive an allowance of €15,413; vice-chairmen get €7,882; convenors, €4,912.
The former Fianna Fáil minister, Dr Michael Woods, is expected to be appointed chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee this week.
Dr Woods, who represents Dublin North East, served in every Fianna Fáil cabinet from the time he was made government chief whip by the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, in 1979.
He was known to be disappointed when he was dropped as a minister following Fianna Fáil's victory in last May's general election.
In line with precedent, the high-profile chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee will go to Fine Gael.
The party leader, Mr Enda Kenny, is expected to appoint the Sligo-Leitrim deputy, Mr John Perry, to the post. Labour is also expected to get a chairmanship, while Fianna Fáil's Government partners, the Progressive Democrats will get at least one.
There are other perks which can be offered to backbenchers. Three Council of Europe places have already been allocated to Mr Noel Davern, Tipperary South, who was dropped by Mr Ahern as Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr G V Wright, Dublin North, and Mr Brendan Daly, Clare.
The Government Chief Whip, Ms Mary Hanafin, has the allocation of some of the foreign parliamentary trips to backbenchers and these can be used as a reward for diligent and loyal backbenchers.
However, those who have been passed over for ministerial promotion are unlikely to be impressed by the consolation prize of a committee chairmanship or inclusion in a parliamentary trip.
"Some of us have been waiting for over five years for a ministerial job. Nothing compensates for being overlooked again, as the party starts a second term in power," said a backbencher.
Those likely to be considered for committee chairmanships include Mr Pat Carey, Dublin North West; Mr Conor Lenihan, Dublin South West, Mr Jim Glennon, Dublin North, Mr Seán Ardagh, Dublin South Central, Mr Seán Haughey, Dublin North Central, Mr Eoin Ryan, Dublin South East, Mr Brendan Smith, Cavan-Monaghan, Mr Batt O'Keeffe, Cork South Central, Mr Billy Kelleher, Cork North Central, Mr Michael Moynihan, Cork North-West, Mr Tony Killeen, Clare, Ms Cecilia Keaveney, Donegal North-East. Mr Donie Cassidy, Westmeath.
