The Government will seek to change an Opposition Dáil motion that blames the IRA for the Northern Bank raid and criticises Sinn Féin for its attitude towards IRA criminality.
The final terms of the Government's counter-motion will be put to the Cabinet today by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in advance of the opening of a two-day debate beginning tonight.
Last night, the Government spokeswoman said the Government did not oppose the Opposition's motion, though it believed that "it doesn't include a way forward. There is no provision for where we should go to next. That is something that the Taoiseach would like to have included," she declared.
The Fine Gael-proposed motion, supported by Labour and the Greens, notes the assessment by the Irish and British governments that the IRA was responsible for the pre-Christmas bank raid. It notes "with deep concern the recent comments by the Sinn Féin leadership regarding its interpretation of what constitutes criminality".
Furthermore, the motion condemns the Provisional IRA's statements last week as "retrograde" and "an implicit threat to the Irish people", and demands that IRA criminality must come to a complete end.
It calls on the IRA to clearly demonstrate its commitment to full decommissioning and to ending all its criminal and paramilitary activity.
The motion also approves of the progress made in the talks that ended in failure in early December and reaffirms the view that the Belfast Agreement offers the best way forward.
It goes on to welcome the Taoiseach's recent statement that his offer regarding the early release of the murderers of Det Garda Jerry McCabe has been withdrawn.
