The four Co Louth residents who are taking a High Court action against Sellafield last night reacted angrily to a suggestion in the Dail by the Minister for Social Affairs, Mr Ahern, that they had no case.
Mr Emmet Stagg (Labour) and Mr Eamon Gilmore (DL) both maintained that Mr Ahern's remarks would undermine the Co Louth residents' case and would be used by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd, which runs the Sellafield plant.
Mr James MacGuill, solicitor for the four plaintiffs, who were in the public gallery for the debate, said for a Minister to "rubbish" a case that the Government was considering supporting with public funds was "outrageous".
Earlier, it was revealed that Government would be putting an "improved" offer of funding to the plaintiffs, who rejected an earlier offer of £200,000 from the Government as a "full and final" settlement of their demands.
All day yesterday the four plaintiffs and their solicitor were at Leinster House to see if Mr Joe Jacob, Minister of State with responsibility for energy, would respond to their meeting request.
Yesterday evening, in advance of the Dail debate on the issue, Mr Jacob informed them by fax that further consideration was needed "in relation to certain aspects of the improved level of support which will be available".
He assured the group that he would have "much more positive news about funding" when they meet, probably next week.
This change of tune was brought about when it became clear that the Government would lose a vote on the issue.
Some Fianna Fail TDs were surprised by the bluntness of the earlier offer given the pledge in their party's environment policy that the action initiated against BNFL by the Co Louth plaintiffs would be "fully funded".
At a Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting yesterday, two TDs suggested that the Government should take over the case and Mr Jacob was asked to discuss this with the plaintiffs. However, they are known to be against it.
A Government source pointed out that the Fine Gael motion, which will be voted on this morning, did not amount to a "blank cheque". It merely called on the Government to provide "financial support" without specifying a figure.
Last night Mr Stagg said he did not know what new figure the Government had in mind but he suggested it would be "enough to keep Mildred Fox happy", a reference to the Independent TD who is to vote in favour of the motion.
Ministers are concerned that the State could find itself financing extensive scientific research on the public health and environmental impacts of Sellafield, as well as the safety of nuclear waste storage tanks on the site.
But Mr Stagg said the State should be doing this anyway. "If you look at the consequences of a serious accident at Sellafield, it would be much more expensive. Irish agriculture and tourism could be worth zilch for 150 years."
The presidential candidate, Ms Adi Roche, issued a statement last night saying that she would join the plaintiffs in the public gallery for the Dail debate. However, to underline their non-party status, they did not sit with her.
