The former leader of the Progressive Democrats, Mr Des O'Malley, has no recollection of a statement made by a former head of military intelligence, Col Michael Hefferon, which was heavily edited in advance of the Arms Trial in 1970.
The changes were almost certainly made within the Department of Justice, where Mr O'Malley had just been appointed minister by the Taoiseach, Mr Jack Lynch.
Mr O'Malley told The Irish Times yesterday in advance of the programme that he had no recollection of the document and did not know anything about it.
Asked if he wished to make any comment, Mr O'Malley replied that he had not seen the RTE Prime Time programme dealing with the affair and therefore did not know what allegations were being made. He would reserve his position until today.
Documentation produced by the programme showed that 16 alterations had been made in the original statement by Col Hefferon before it was forwarded to the attorney general, Mr Colm Condon, for inclusion in the book of evidence.
The original statement carried an official Department of Justice stamp and the initials of Mr Peter Berry, secretary of the Department. It carried notations in the margin in Mr Berry's hand. The sections dealt with in this way were subsequently removed.
It is not known when the changes were made or if Mr O'Malley was aware of them.
The Department stamp directed the document to both the secretary and to the minister "to see". The secretary's title was initialled and dated by Mr Berry, while the minister's title was simply ticked with the comment "seen 1/6" (June 1st).
Last night Prime Time produced evidence that Col Hefferon's original statement to Special Branch officers was edited before it was included in the State's book of evidence for the trial of two ministers, Mr Charles Haughey and Mr Neil Blaney, and Capt James Kelly, Mr John Kelly, a Belfast republican, and Mr Albert Luykx, a Belgian businessman, for attempting to illegally import arms.
The changes were designed to minimise the involvement and knowledge of the minister for defence, Mr Jim Gibbons, in relation to the arms importation attempts. Mr Gibbons was the chief government witness.
Evidence given by Col Hefferon in court, which restated the position he had outlined to gardai, undermined the credibility of the minister for defence and "not guilty" verdicts were returned.