John Halligan’s threats to take down the Government will be discussed at a Fine Gael ‘think in’ in Kildare today.

The Junior Minister has warned he will “rain hell” on Leinster House if they do not provide extra heart services for his local hospital in Waterford.

The row has undermined the stability of the Fine Gael Government which needs a minimum of 58 votes in the Dáil – currently, with Minister Halligan, they have just 59.

Today’s parliamentary party meeting will also cover other major topics, including the upcoming Budget, the Brexit vote, and the EU Commission’s ruling on Apple’s tax bill.

Next month’s budget is expected to take centre stage at the ‘think-in’ which takes place in Kildare today and tomorrow.

This is the party’s main gathering ahead of the return of the Dáil later this month.

The party will also see if lessons have been learned from their disastrous general election performance which saw them lose 26 seats – with two reports prepared for TDs, Senators and MEPs.

But they won’t get them in full, instead the inquiries will only be summarised for those present.