The Taoiseach has told the Dáil that the release of the killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe would only be considered in the context of an end to all paramilitary activity.
Fine Gael and Labour strongly criticised any proposal to release the men early as part of a deal with the IRA.
Earlier, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said that the release of the men was part of the sequence of statements and actions agreed last October.
In a separate development, the Fianna Fáil MEP for Munster, Gerry Collins, has said he believed Garda McCabe's killers should serve their full term.
The former justice minister said he was not at all in favour of any leniency towards the men who took the life of Jerry McCabe.
Mr Collins added that he would be conveying that view in as strong of terms as possible to the Government.
