The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, faces an embarrassing motion of no confidence in the Dail next week over his handling of the asylum-seekers crisis.
The Labour Party motion, to be supported by Fine Gael and the Greens, was tabled yesterday as a row intensified over controversial comments by the chairman of the Eastern Health Board, the Fianna Fail TD, Mr Ivor Callely.
The Progressive Democrats said last night they would support the Government on the motion.
The Progressive Democrat Minister of State, Ms Liz O'Donnell, who last week described the Government policy on asylum-seekers as a "shambles", said she had no intention of exacerbating difficulties about this issue in the Government.
"I will be supporting the motion. How silent the Opposition has been on this issue up to now. Labour and Fine Gael have been eerily quiet. Where have they been?"
Mr Callely's chairmanship of the health board may be under threat after his call for "bogus" asylum-seekers to be "thrown out" of the State. A censure motion is to be tabled against him by a fellow member, the Labour TD, Ms Roisin Shortall.
Ms Shortall told The Irish Times she will be consulting her health board colleagues about "the desirability of Mr Callely remaining on as chairman". Mr Callely was elected chairman by one vote.
Mr Callely said on RTE yesterday that his comments had to be looked at "in their totality". He said he fully supported services for genuine refugees.
The Labour motion of no confidence in Mr O'Donoghue, tabled in the name of the party spokesman on Justice, Mr Brendan Howlin, deplores the "total inadequacy" of Mr O'Donoghue's policy on asylum-seekers and his failure to ensure that applications for asylum are processed "effectively and efficiently".
With the Independent TDs, Mr Michael Lowry and Mr Tony Gregory, the Sinn Fein TD, Mr Caoimhghin O Caolain, and the Socialist TD, Mr Joe Higgins, all likely to support the motion, the Government will be depending on three of the four Independents with whom it has a formal agreement to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
The motion will be debated in private members' time on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Quinn, yesterday accused Mr Callely of feeding racist fears by calling for the hardening of the Government's position on asylum-seekers. "Inflammatory comments like those of Deputy Callely can be manipulated by others with even more hostile intent for more sinister purposes," he said.