The Irish Prisons Service has revealed that there are seven prisoners currently serving sentences solely on the basis of a conviction for statutory rape.
They were convicted under legislation which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
The law had made it an automatic crime to have sex with a girl under the age of 15.
The Taoiseach told the Dáil that the Department of Justice and the Attorney General have been considering legislation relating to sexual offences since last night.
This morning, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny quizzed the Taoiseach about exactly what the Government was doing in response to the judgment.
Mr Kenny said there had been 54 such cases in recent years, and asked whether those convictions would now fall, and whether people would now be removed from the Sex Offenders Register.
Mr Kenny also pointed out that the Law Reform Commission had recommended change in the law as far back as 1990.
Bertie Ahern said that the balance of opinion when the law was looked at eight years ago was that it should not be changed.
But he accepted that there was no return to a law which had been struck down.
And he said that while the Prison Service was trying to establish how many people were in jail having been convicted under the relevant section, it was not a case that people can walk free as a result of the Supreme Court decision.
