The Taoiseach called on the IRA to talk about arms decommissioning with the de Chastelain commission.

Mr Ahern said the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, could not make a move from his position until something happened relating to decommissioning. This was also a fundamental position on the part of the British government, which had to be resolved before it did anything on demilitarisation.

"The most satisfactory move would be that the republican movement, and others, if necessary - I am not focusing my attention on them, but they should also do so - should engage fully, seriously and in a determined way with the de Chastelain commission."

Mr Ahern said that would not be enough to deal with the current impasse in the Belfast Agreement. Movement on the Patten report, and its full implementation, demilitarisation and decommissioning were required.

If there was movement on all three, or at least on demilitarisation and decommissioning, progress could be made.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, asked Mr Ahern why more use was not made of President Clinton's visit to break the log-jam on decommissioning, demilitarisation, policing and the North-South bodies.

"Why was the talks process not put in place, say in the two weeks leading into the arrival of President Clinton, in order to get politicians in Northern Ireland to talk about those four issues, face-to-face, across the community divide, rather than across the airwaves?"

Mr Ahern said that for the past two weeks the two key officials had been working extremely hard to present the President with a clear briefing. That work was done quietly and effectively with the British government and the parties.

Mr Bruton said there was a high degree of urgency relating to the issue. The ultimate solution was to be found by the politicians themselves, on both sides of the divide.

"The truth is that while they are talking to one another about everything, they were not engaging with one another on policing, demilitarisation and decommissioning."

The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said Mr Gerry Adams, in particular, and the Sinn Fein leadership in general, owed it to President Clinton to reciprocate the sort of generosity and act of imagination he displayed towards them by convincing their IRA colleagues to move on the decommissioning issue.

Mr Ahern said he agreed with Mr Quinn's sentiments, adding that President Clinton and his officials had given enormous time to the issue.