Taoiseach Bertie Ahern denied that the Government had waged a campaign against the Centre for Public Inquiry, whose chief executive is Frank Connolly.
He insisted that he and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell had comprehensively answered all questions on the issue.
"There was no question of there being any campaign by the Government against the Centre for Public Inquiry, which happens to employ the individual concerned."
He was replying to Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) who asked if Mr Ahern recalled "that even the corrupt judicial system in Colombia could not convict the three men of the training of Farc guerillas".
He asked what, according to Mr Ahern, was the threat to the State.
"Was it the fantasy of the IRA using money from Colombia to subvert democracy, or was it the case that the Taoiseach viewed the threat from the Centre for Public Inquiry, with Frank Connolly as chief executive, as greater to the political interest of the Minister Deputy McDowell, the PDs and the Government?"
Mr Ahern said the matter centred on the fraudulent use of Irish passports and the activities of persons belonging to a proscribed organisation which was bent on subverting the State. "The Minister arrived at his judgment, and made a decision as it was his responsibility to do. The Cabinet supports his view in the matter. I have no more to say."
Mr Ó Caoláin pressed the Taoiseach to clarify what organisation was bent on subverting the institutions of the State.
He added that there were parallels with the "Stormontgate" situation, where "those in a position of influence in a state can fabricate a case against this party, Sinn Féin, and as a result bring about the collapse of public institutions".
He said this also paralleled "the actions of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which the Taoiseach approved, in respect of the Centre for Public Inquiry and the position of Frank Connolly". If the Taoiseach failed to see the parallel, he was absolutely blind to the facts.
Mr Ahern said he had not made up the matter of the passport application form, and neither he nor the Minister for Justice had placed it in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
"Somebody had a bogus document. If somebody feels aggrieved at and maligned by anything said inside or outside the House, there is a way to vindicate himself or herself through the courts . . . Let us not con ourselves into believing this was not a serious issue."