A stunt and a waste of time is how Waterford's Fianna Fáil TD is labeling this evening's vote of no confidence in the government.
The Sinn Féin motion is unlikely to succeed after some independents announced they would vote against it.
Waterford Junior Minister, Mary Butler has told WLR News that it should never have been tabled:
"I think it's a stunt, an attempt to pursue a path to power. And I believe it's a complete waste of parliamentary time.
"It's not unusual to see this type of motion prior to the summer recess.
"This is our last week sitting and we will be going into recess then.
"I'm much more interested in working with nursing homes in relation to the extra costs they're seeing... as you know, the budget will be held earlier this year, on the 27th of September."
However, Waterford's Sinn Féin TD, David Cullinane doesn't agree with Minister Butler's view on the motion.
"Well listen, obviously if Mary feels that an opposition party holding a disastrous government to account is a stunt, well that's a matter for her," the party's health spokesperson said.
"We promised that we would be a very robust opposition party.
"Our job is not to give the government a free pass and allow a situation to arise where the Dáil goes into recess for seven weeks and additional measures that should be put in place to support workers and families are now not being put in place."
Suspended Green Party TDs, Neasa Hourigan and Partick Costello, have yet to say how they will vote, along with a number of other independent TDs.
Waterford's Matt Shanahan is among them.
"I think if they [the government] didn't win it and we're into an election, we'd probably be looking at a deferred budget," Deputy Shanahan said, "and I'm not sure how that would be in the national interest.
"But, having said that, I have significant issues that I have been raising in the Dáil over a period of two years that I've been looking to see go forward and I haven't seen them up to now.
"Perhaps they'll come to some degree and perhaps they'll not but I haven't yet considered my position for the vote later today."
Meanwhile, Green Party TD for Waterford, Marc Ó Cathasaigh, has told WLR News that as a government whip, he will certainly be voting confidence this evening.
