A Government plan to set up a Northern Ireland Oireachtas committee has been criticised by the Ulster Unionist Part (UUP) while Opposition parties have questioned the timing of the move.
Under the plan, TDs, senators, and Westminster MPs, but not members of the Stormont Assembly, would meet to discuss the implementation of the Belfast Agreement and North/South co-operation.
The proposal was unveiled by Government Chief Whip Tom Kitt, accompanied by two civil servants, on Tuesday night to Opposition whips, Fine Gael's Paul Kehoe, Labour's Emmet Stagg and the Green Party's Dan Boyle.
The UUP immediately condemned the move, arguing that it would undermine the union with the United Kingdom and that it was outside the Belfast Agreement.
Clearly unhappy about the way in which the proposal was put forward, Fine Gael said it would study the detail of the documentation when the Government produced it, probably in a week or so.
"Until then, we will say little, though we would question the timing," said one Fine Gael official, adding that the Government had dropped a much wider plan last February in the face of outright opposition.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte also focused on the timing of the Government's move, "at a time when efforts to restore the executive in Northern Ireland are so delicately balanced".
Sinn Féin's whip, Dublin South Central TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh, had clearly been briefed on the plans before the whips met in the Dáil on Tuesday night, Mr Rabbitte said.
"The only party that was aware that Fianna Fáil and the PDs were about to resurrect this proposal, was Sinn Féin. This would suggest that there may have been some sort of side deal done between the Government and Sinn Féin over recent weeks. And it must lead to questions as to whether or not there have been other such side deals that the public, or the Dáil, have not been told about," the Labour leader said.
He said he had "no problem" with the creation of an Oireachtas committee provided that it was established "on a cross-community basis with parity of esteem for the different communities in Northern Ireland".
Using Mr Rabbitte's criteria, the committee would not form until the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the UUP had taken up their seats. The DUP joined the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body last year.
The proposal marks a significant retreat for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who last year had put forward plans to create a more substantial committee.
Then, he had appeared to support Sinn Féin's demands for a committee open to all TDs and Northern MPs, sitting in the Dáil chamber.
This was strongly objected to by the Opposition and by the PDs, who argued that no one could tell the difference between the committee and the Dáil. Privately, the Opposition refused to grant a platform to Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to speak from the Dáil chamber. "They have TDs down here," said one Fine Gael TD.
Speaking in the Dáil yesterday morning, Tánaiste and PD leader Michael McDowell said: "There will be full dialogue with all party leaders in this House and in Northern Ireland. The SDLP, Sinn Féin and the unionist parties in Northern Ireland will all be consulted."
In the Dáil on Tuesday, the Taoiseach said he "was proceeding, taking account of the views expressed by the other party leaders, with the proposal to establish a new joint Oireachtas committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and North-South co-operation".
