Taoiseach Bertie Ahern rejected a claim that flights used for rendition purposes had passed through Shannon airport.
He was replying to Green Party leader Trevor Sargent, who referred to an incident in Shannon on Monday and claimed that the Taoiseach was out of sync with everyone else on the issue.
"I do not accept that at all. We are absolutely opposed to extraordinary rendition. We have made this emphatically clear on a continuous basis, including directly and at the highest level, to the US.
"US authorities have fully accepted our position and have made it clear that prisoners have not been transferred through Irish territory nor would they be," the Taoiseach said.
Mr Ahern added that a civilian aircraft carrying US military personnel landed at Shannon airport for a technical refuelling stop en route from Kuwait to the US.
"It emerged on Monday that US authorities had inadvertently failed to seek the consent for this. Such transfers of prisoners are permitted under international domestic law. However, consent was not sought. The Minister for Foreign Affairs [ Dermot Ahern] raised this with the US ambassador last night and undertook to examine our procedures to ensure that these events do no reoccur."
Later, there were heated exchanges between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Labour spokesman Michael D Higgins. Labour moved a private member's motion noting the State's obligations to ensure that torture was not facilitated and that individuals were not placed at risk of torture. Mr Higgins said that gardaí had never inspected a single aircraft in Shannon. He added that according to RTÉ news reports, members of staff at Shannon spotted the man in shackles and brought the incident to the attention of the airport authorities.
"Presumably, the airport authorities then brought the matter to the attention of the Government. Rather than this being a voluntary disclosure on the part of the US authorities, as Minister Ahern suggests, it is evident that the Americans were, in fact, caught red-handed."
Mr Ahern said that following the incident, he had immediately summoned the ambassador to Iveagh House, where they met for the best part of an hour.
"I outlined our very grave concerns. The ambassador confirmed the sequence of events and made clear that the failure to seek consent arose from an administrative error. He conveyed his deep regret for the breach of procedures and undertook urgently to advise his authorities of my views.
"He also confirmed his willingness to review the situation immediately with a view to ensuring that there is no recurrence. In his statement this evening, which I welcome, the ambassador has repeated what he said to me."
Mr Ahern added that he had informed the ambassador "that, notwithstanding the fact that this incident had no connection with allegations of extraordinary rendition, it was unacceptable that it should happen".They had asked for a full written report from the US embassy, he said.
"In addition, to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to prevent any recurrence of this incident, we will engage in further discussion with the US authorities on arrangements for notification and information sharing, and the strengthening of verification procedures as necessary."
