The Taoiseach appeared to express confidence in the Minister for Education as he came under pressure from the Opposition on Mr Dempsey's weekend initiative on educational disadvantage.
Pressed by the Labour leader, Mr Rabbitte, to say if he had ever supported the reintroduction of third-level fees, Mr Ahern declined to do so. The Taoiseach listed several items of funding for education, and referring to Mr Dempsey, who sat on the Government benches, he added: "I want to, on the floor of the House, give my congratulations to the Minister for Education."
Amid heckling from the Opposition benches, Mr Rabbitte said: "The Minister for Education is really in trouble now." Later, amid exchanges with Mr Dempsey, the Labour leader remarked: "I don't think, Minister Dempsey, you should intervene because the next time you have a good idea, the Tánaiste will reach into her purse and give you money for sweets and send you to the shop."
Mr Rabbitte said the country wanted to know where the Taoiseach had stood on the issue. "Did you side with your Minister for Education, whom you have just congratulated, or did you side with Minister McDowell?" he asked.
He said that the Minister of State for Justice, Mr Willie O'Dea, had said on RTÉ television that the Fianna Fáil backbenchers had stopped the reintroduction of fees. "Does that mean, Taoiseach, that you are referring to your own backbenchers as not giving two hells about disadvantage? Or do you disagree with 'comical Willie'?" he added. He charged Mr Ahern with "phoney concern" for the disadvantaged.
Mr Ahern said he stood to make sure that disadvantaged people had an opportunity to get into third-level education if that was their wish. "It is not a question of giving them money for sweets," he added.
"That might have been the policy of governments down through the years. It is not the policy of this Government. We have given enormous increases in resources, 94 per cent increase in the overall budget in just a short number of years."
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said it said much for the style of the Taoiseach, and his management of serious political issues, that he should publicly back the Minister and indicate that the matter would be brought to the Cabinet. However, the Government found that it would not be acceptable.
"The Taoiseach should now instruct that an audit be carried out in every Government Department to see what other monies are lying around there which might be able to deal with issues of disadvantage and under-resourced communities and the underprivileged," he added.
"This situation has brought about clarity at least that this Government cannot be trusted, that its word cannot be taken, and that it is bereft of political leadership on serious issues which concern the people of the country."
Mr Ahern said that the Government had successfully dealt with the issue at the weekend. "Unfortunately, over the years, not much interest was shown in putting money into helping the disadvantaged in education," he said
"In 1997, when I took over there was a half-million pounds spent and we brought it up to 26 million before the announcement of the past few days."
