The Minister for Defence, Mr O'Dea, said he didn't believe there was any "dichotomy" between the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, with Mr McDowell saying that Mr Gerry Adams was on the IRA army council and Mr Ahern saying that he didn't know if he was.
"You'd have a dichotomy if somebody says they were members and somebody else said they weren't - Michael McDowell said they were members of the army council and the Taoiseach says he doesn't know.
"Michael McDowell knows things the Taoiseach doesn't know because he's in the Department of Justice," said Mr O'Dea, adding that what was important to him was that Sinn Féin and the IRA were inextricably linked, and the IRA had to wind up to progress the peace process.
Mr O'Dea was speaking during a visit to Collins Barracks in Cork, where he opened a military museum and a mess for privates.
He said he believed Mr McDowell had made his comments on foot of Garda intelligence, but said he himself had not received any briefings from military intelligence in the past week that would confirm what Mr McDowell had said.
He accepted the Northern Bank raid was carried out by the Provisional IRA, and he believed at least part of the money which was being laundered in Cork represented some of the proceeds.
"All the indications are that the money attempted to be laundered down here in Cork and elsewhere in the country, part of that represents some of the [bank raid] proceeds," he said.
"Obviously, if people were laundering the proceeds of that robbery it would be the same people that robbed the money that would be involved in the laundering or somebody on their behalf".
