Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has called on parties in Northern Ireland to reach agreement on the transfer of justice and policing powers from Westminster to Stormont.
Mr Ahern was commenting after the latest report from the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) said it remains certain that the Provisional IRA is committed to following an exclusively peaceful path.
The IMC has been assessing the threat of paramilitary organisations for almost five years.
Its latest report has suggested that dissident republicans are determined to murder police officers and are more active that at any time since 2004.
It also recommended that a deadline should be set for loyalist organisations to complete weapons decommissioning.
In his reaction to the report, the Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, urged Northern Ireland's political parties to reach agreement on this issue.
The Northern Secretary, Sean Woodward echoed that view.
He said progress would be greatly enhanced by the devolution of justice and policing powers.
