Anybody who can prove the US is smuggling prisoners through Shannon Airport should contact gardai, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern said tonight.
The Government was accused by the Greens of adopting a 'hear no evil, see no evil' policy in relation to the alleged use of Shannon to transport detainees to Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.
Shannon Airport - Dermot Ahern appealed for anybody with evidence of detainees being moved through the airport, to present it to gardaí.
Dublin TD John Gormley claimed neither gardaí nor airport police were currently carrying out inspections of US aircraft refuelling at the Mid-West airport.
However Mr Ahern said he has been constantly reassured by US authorities on the matter and he urged people with evidence to go to the gardaí.
"No concrete evidence has been produced nor have we any evidence ourselves," he told the Dáil.
"I want to assure the House that these concerns have been nevertheless raised at regular intervals with US authorities through the Irish Embassy in Washington and the US Embassy in Dublin."
He said the Government has warned the US authorities that it would be illegal to transport prisoners through Irish airports without its permission.
"The US authorities have confirmed that they have not done so and they would not do so without seeking permission."
He appealed for anybody with evidence to present it to gardaí.
"If any citizen or other person has specific evidence that Shannon or any other Irish airport is being used for [transporting prisoners] this it should be shared with the garda authorities."
Mr Gormley, who had tabled a Dáil question on the issue, accused the Government of adopting a hypocritical line of 'hear no evil, see no evil' as far as the US is concerned.
Addressing Mr Ahern, he said: "If you had the bottle to carry out searches on these planes, you would find that people are being transported to Guantanamo Bay."
He claimed that 70% of US troops in Iraq have passed through Shannon Airport.
He also charged that the US had told Ireland no weapons were passing through Shannon but observers had seen them.
"You don't accept that we are complicit in that war, but most Irish people do believe that we are totally hand-in-glove with the US," he said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern
Mr Ahern said that the office of the UN Commission on Human Rights had confirmed to his department that it was not investigating the matter.
"Every time it's raised in the media and in the Dáil, my officials make contact with the US Embassy and with Washington and on every occasion they have said that there has been no transiting. We accept their word," Mr Ahern said.
"The US has given huge amounts of money to this country. Are we to turn around and deny what its officials are telling us as a sovereign government."