A Government spokesman has told The Irish Times that discussions have been held with republicans which it is hoped will lead to the discovery of the bodies of the "disappeared".
It is also understood the talks were prompted by new information passed on by the IRA.
However, other Government sources have indicated that this information was not sufficiently specific to help locate the bodies of those abducted and killed by the IRA since the early 1970s.
Discussions between Government representatives and republicans are said to have centred on the cases of Mrs Jean McConville and Mr Columba McVeigh. A body found last week by a man and his family at Shelling Hill beach near Carlingford, Co Louth, is thought to be that of Mrs McConville. The Protestant mother of 10 was abducted from her west Belfast home and killed by the IRA in 1972.
The Sinn Féin president said new information passed on by the IRA had been useful, and he hoped the body would be that of Mrs McConville. Mr Gerry Adams said the IRA was making genuine efforts to bring closure to the trauma of the families of the "disappeared" caused by their inability to bury their dead.
He told RTÉ yesterday: "All the information that is available is in the hands of the authorities in Dublin and hopefully that will lead to the alleviation of this outstanding injustice to the families involved."
Mr Adams has suggested that experts, perhaps with forensic or archaeological skills, be included in efforts to find bodies, which remain undiscovered despite previous extensive searches and digging operations.
The issue was of the utmost sensitivity, he said. However, he remained hopeful that the bodies of the others who disappeared up to 30 years ago could now also be located.
The Government spokesman said it would be up to the Garda to comment on the suggestion that outside experts be drafted in to help with any further searches for bodies.
The mother of Mr McVeigh, who was abducted on October 31st, 1975, in Dublin, said yesterday she wanted to bury her son.
Mrs Vera McVeigh (79) said her husband had "died of a broken heart" following the abduction and murder. She recognised that she was elderly but she wanted to give her son a Christian burial, and so alleviate the suffering of the rest of the family before her own death.
Mrs McVeigh told The Irish Times her family had received no new information from the Government concerning the search for her son.
She added she was delighted at the discovery last week of the body in Co Louth and "would be equally delighted" if her son's remains were found. "I'm always hopeful," she said.
However, another family source said words of optimism from Sinn Féin would prove meaningless without action.