The Sinn Féin President, Mr Gerry Adams, has said he received a commitment from the Taoiseach six years ago that the killers of Det Garda Jerry McCabe would be released from jail if there were a comprehensive settlement in the North.
A Government spokeswoman said last night that the Taoiseach was at a function and could not be contacted for comment on the claim.
In an interview on RTÉ's Late Late Show he said that before the four men were sentenced in 1998, he had met the Taoiseach and said to him that they "could not be left behind" if the conflict was resolved. He said that Mr Ahern told him that if there was a comprehensive deal, this would "not be a problem".
He said the four qualified for release under the Belfast Agreement. While the post office robbery they were attempting had not been authorised by the IRA leadership, it had been authorised by someone lower down in the IRA's command structure.
He rejected a claim that the four were involved in a robbery in order to make money for themselves. "They would have not benefited themselves from whatever would have occurred."
He said that in October last year there was to be a series of choreographed statements from the different parties which had gone wrong. But at that time the Irish Government, including Mr McDowell, had agreed to their release. He said that under the normal parole terms, they would all be out by the year 2009 anyway.