The Taoiseach has said he attached "particular significance and importance" to the IRA decision to appoint a representative to liaise with the de Chastelain commission on decommissioning following the establishment of the institutions provided for in the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Ahern described the IRA statement "as an important new contribution to the process of securing the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement".
However, the Taoiseach said he did not see any difficulties with the IRA decision not to appoint a representative prior to the setting up of the new executive. He said he foresaw both the establishment of the executive and the appointment of the IRA representative as "practically simultaneous events".
Mr Ahern said that following the establishment of the executive there would be "very, very speedy moves towards the representative of the IRA taking up their positions with the de Chastelain commission. I do not perceive that as a difficulty.
"The statement's reiteration of the IRA's unequivocal commitment to peace, its comments on the significance of the Good Friday agreement in terms of building a lasting peace, and its acknowledgement of the leadership of Sinn Fein, taken together with the ceasefire over what is now a protracted period, carry very real value at this critical time, as the Mitchell review draws to a close," Mr Ahern said.
Mr Ahern added that he would brief President Clinton on recent progress when the two leaders meet in Turkey today at a meeting of the Organisation for Security Co-operation in Europe.