The Taoiseach has promised that the Government will respond to the DIRT report "as quickly as possible".
Mr Ahern said the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat coalition would "look at the recommendations closely and we will then decide on what action should be taken". He said governments in the past had acted following previous reports such as the Stardust Inquiry, the Kerry Babies Tribunal and the McCracken Tribunal.
The Taoiseach said he did not speak to any of the DIRT subcommittee members when the report was being carried out. He praised the committee for the report.
The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, welcomed the fact that the committee had "conducted and concluded its deliberations in an efficient and expeditious manner". He said his Department would be studying the contents in the report.
The former leader of the Progressive Democrats, Mr Desmond O'Malley, said the findings in regard "to certain external auditors are quite startling. There is a list of areas where urgent legislative and administrative action must be taken".
"The Progressive Democrats will have no difficulty in supporting these recommendations of the sub-committee in this respect", he said.
Mr O'Malley commended the sub-committee for the speed and thoroughness of its work. "I cannot help contrasting the speed and clarity and effectiveness of this report with what happened at the Beef Tribunal," he commented.
The Fine Gael spokesman on Finance, Mr Michael Noonan, called on the Government to implement the recommendations in the DIRT report "as quickly as possible".
The Labour Party spokesman on Finance, Mr Derek McDowell, said the Government should carefully consider the report and act upon its recommendations "to ensure that all banks and financial institutions meet all their tax responsibilities".
He said the financial institutions "should not demean their standing within society any further by contesting either the findings of the report or the penalties imposed". The Green Party spokesman on finance, Mr Trevor Sargent, said that the real test of the DIRT inquiry would be the collection of unpaid taxes.
"People are being sent to prison in this country for stealing a coat while politicians, bankers and the Revenue Commissioners have been seen to react indifferently to the payment and collection of massive amounts of unpaid taxes," said Mr Sargent.