Minister for Health Mary Harney has refused to speculate on what the implications for her political future are if the Progressive Democrats are wound up next weekend.
Speaking to reporters in Dublin today Ms Harney would not even say if she foresaw herself continuing as health minister if the party which she helped found ceases to exist.
"I'm not going to speculate on what implications there are. I'm not going any further than the meeting of next Saturday," she said.
Asked about weekend reports that she would resign from the PDs if the party membership votes to keep the party alive, against her wishes, at a special conference in Mullingar next Saturday she said: "Well nobody spoke to me about that matter".
She added: "Can I say next Saturday will be the first opportunity that I and my colleagues in the parliamentary party will have to address the wider party membership in relation to the future sustainability of the party and I'm looking forward to that meeting.
"I understand that there will be a good turn out from right around the country and I think after that meeting makes a determination I'll then comment in public about the various issues that arise but in advance of that I'm not going to make any public comment because I don't think it would be helpful".
She said she was instrumental in the foundation of the party almost 23 years ago.
"Clearly I would love to think that the Progressive Democrats have a viable political future but in order to have a viable political future one has to have the capacity to elect people to the national parliament, particularly to the Dáil and clearly in last year's general election we did not have that capacity," she said.
There has been some speculation that the party's grassroots may decide against the wishes of the parliamentary party and the majority of its councillors that the party has no viable future. Some members, particularly in the Limerick East constituency of the party's former leader Des O'Malley, have argued that the party should remain in existence.