The Government's health reform plans will be discussed at a special Dáil debate on Friday week if they are endorsed today by the Cabinet.
The debate will be among the last acts of an extensive Government publicity campaign to support the initiative.
The radical measures, shifting day-to-day control of the health system away from central Government and local politicians, will be proposed to Ministers at their weekly meeting this morning. They were agreed in a joint memorandum circulated to Ministers last week by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy. It brought months of friction between the two men to an end.
There were indications last night that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, would not answer Dáil questions on the initiative until after the plan is published.
The Government is planning a major media briefing tomorrow afternoon, which will be attended by Mr Ahern, Mr Martin, Mr McCreevy and the Tánaiste, Ms Harney. There will be a presentation before Ministers answer journalists' questions.
Publication of the plan will be followed by an extensive "roadshow" by Mr Martin, who will canvass the support of the health professions and unions representing the sector's 96,000 staff.
Ministers are likely to be told to go out and sell the plan to the public at today's meeting. There will also be an effort to mollify any back-bench criticism at a meeting next Tuesday of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party. A motion on health held over from a meeting several weeks ago will be discussed.
With Mr Ahern no longer attending Dáil sittings on Thursday, he will not be available for questions until next Tuesday.
Fine Gael last night accused Mr Ahern of reneging on his duty. The party leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said: "This plan is suggesting some of the most wide-ranging changes in health which will affect almost every member of the public. The public has a right to have their public representatives' questions and answers on this."
The Government, having endured months of political flak about health cutbacks, will be hoping to appease its critics. However, the Opposition is likely to try to score political points by noting it has had six years already to reform the sector.
The response of the medical consultants, health board managers and back-benchers will be crucial to the Government's prospects of implementing the plan before the next election.
With local authority members set to lose their right to sit on health boards, the Government hopes to give responsibility for the system to a professionalised Health Services Executive.
Last night, the junior Minister at the Department, Mr Ivor Callely, said he believed Oireachtas members, as opposed to local councillors, would be represented on the four new regional authorities. How this would be facilitated "has yet to be finalised".