The Commission of Inquiry into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings should report by the summer, the Taoiseach has told the Dáil.
But Mr Ahern said he would not know until the report was published whether Mr Justice Barron is satisfied with the level of cooperation he has received from the British authorities.
He told opposition deputies that he had been in touch with the British Prime Minister about the failure to supply information last year.
Mr Justice Barron had not asked for further representations to be made since the beginning of this year.
The Taoiseach added that there had been much better assistance in recent months, in particular from the new Northern Secretary, Paul Murphy.
Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said it was 'absolutely intolerable' that the British had not cooperated.
He suggested that if the Taoiseach had applied to the British government the same yardstick as Mr Blair had applied to Saddam Hussein, he would have 'dispatched an Aer Corps Cessna over 10 Downing Street to lob a few hand grenades to wake up the Prime Minister'.
