People who might have connections with the Provisional IRA were being investigated by the Garda, the Taoiseach told the Dáil. Mr Ahern added that he accepted Sinn Féin assurances that allegations about the party being funded by the Provisional IRA were untrue.
The Taoiseach said he was not at liberty to talk about security briefings, adding: "I am aware that the Garda has been investigating certain activities by people who may have connections with the Provisional IRA. There are a number of these issues."
Mr Ahern, replying to questions from the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said he had no evidence that a political party in the Dáil was funded by illegal activities. "Senior people in Sinn Féin have made it clear to me that it is not the case. At the end of the day, it is a matter for the Garda to pursue criminal activity."
He added that there had been allegations from time to time that Provisional IRA members were involved in what might be called organised crime in the form of robbery and hijacking. "They are not proven cases." He said that the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, had more day-to-day details on such matters.
Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) angrily denied that his party had any link with criminal activities. "Sinn Féin has not only met the statutory requirements in relation to the furnishing of its accounts annually, but it has also voluntarily submitted those same accounts to the Revenue Commissioners. It has submitted to the requirements of the Standards in Public Office Commission and also to the Electoral Office in the Six Counties."
He added Sinn Féin was one of the most scrutinised parties in the State. "Our accounts are not only scrutinised on this side of the Border, north of the Border, but also in relation to the party's ongoing work in the United States." The remarks of the Minister for Justice on the issue were "a scurrilous slight on this party and in the extreme." This had caused "hurt and vexation" to elected voices and supporters of the party throughout the island of Ireland and abroad, he said.
Mr Ahern suggested that Mr Ó Caoláin should not get himself too upset. "I have spent most of my time as party leader for the past nine years defending it about investigations, examinations into all kinds of issues. I have had to answer to tribunals, facilitate all kinds of investigations. It comes with the territory in a democratic society."
Mr Ahern said he had no information about the theft of cigarettes north of the Border on Monday, although it was a very significant matter. There had been other activities recently which were being investigated.
"I am aware of what the Minister for Justice has said, in response to questions he has been asked about the matter. Everybody in the House accepts that there can be no room for ambiguity on these types of issues in a democratic society. The Minister has been determined to see what he can do about making sure these criminal acts and organised gangs, from wherever they come, are dealt with."
He added that sources in Sinn Féin had been in contact with him to point out that they had nothing to do with any of those matters.
Earlier, Mr Kenny said that in an operation just north of the Border on Monday, members of an illegal organisation hijacked a truck carrying 2.3 million cigarettes, worth about €1.6 million.
"According to the Garda and the PSNI, it had all the hallmarks of a Provisional IRA operation. It follows on the heels of a discovery of a scam in the building construction area, operated by the Provisional IRA also. This comes a week after the Minister for Justice said he was certain that organised crime, particularly involving the Provisional IRA, was funding the Sinn Féin party." Mr Kenny added that Mr Ahern had indicated a number of times that Sinn Féin and the IRA were two sides of the same coin.
