TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen refused to say if the Green Party had an agreement to rotate ministries.

Pressed by the Opposition to say if Minister for the Environment John Gormley would be stepping down in the Cabinet reshuffle, Mr Cowen said “notice of motion will be brought forward, due notice will be given and we will deal with the issue at that point.”

Earlier Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny referred to the pressure and stress experienced by thousands of people all over the country every day.

“When they look at this Cabinet, all they see is talk about jobs for the boys and the girls. If it were not so serious it would be like ‘Lanigan’s Ball’.

“We are led to believe from a news story broken on TV3 that Deputy [Ciarán] Cuffe has the political carving knife to the throat of his leader, the Minister for the Environment.

“All that is being talked about are well-paid and well-pensioned jobs, when 434,000 men and women are on the Live Register because the Government’s strategy has failed.”

Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said: “Is a simultaneous process taking place here, one under the aegis of the Taoiseach and another, a ‘Lanigan’s Ball’ type affair, at the behest of the Green Party?”