Agreement was reached between the Government and Fine Gael over a motion before the Dail this evening indicating that the killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe will not be released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
Fine Gael were unhappy at what they saw as the Taoiseach's ambiguous position on whether the four men would be realised as part of a deal to re-instate power sharing in the North.
But Mr Ahern told the Dail this evening that he could not foresee circumstances in which the Government would offer early release to the men in order to get the IRA to commit to ending all aspects of its activities.
During negotiations late last year, Sinn Féin insisted Det Garda McCabe's killers were covered by the early release programme in the Belfast Agreement. The Government reluctantly - and controversially - agreed.
But following December's Northern Bank heist in Belfast blamed on the IRA, Mr Ahern said the killers' release was now off the table.
He confirmed the position this evening, ending a day of controversy in Leinster House as Fine Gael sought the Government's unequivocal support for its motion ruling out early release.
"I have now made it clear that the question of the early release of the killers of Detective Garda McCabe is no longer on the table," Mr Ahern told the Dáil.
He defended his decision to consider the men's early release saying it was "a risk that the Government was prepared to take in the particular circumstances of closure".
Opening the debate, Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny confirmed that agreement had been reached with on the issue after. He said: "I welcome Mr Ahern's statement in which he confirmed that this matter is off the table and that he does not envisage it being out back on the table."
Mr Ahern also defended the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) from Sinn Féin claims that it was a puppet of the British and Irish governments, saying its integrity was beyond question.
"They have formed their own judgement on the information that they have available to them," Mr Ahern said.
However, he repeated his opposition to political sanctions against Sinn Féin. "My concern is that their application might distract attention from the essential issue that must be dealt with rather than focus people on the challenge that must be confronted."
Earlier, Mr Kenny said a clear message msut be sent to Sinn Féin that all IRA activity must end. "We want the republican movement to join the democratic process. We want them to end their criminality and criminal past.
"We want them to end punishment beatings and racketeering. We want them to back up their words of embracing democratic politics with actions to demonstrate that and not breaches of trust to undermine it.
"Only then will the Irish people have full confidence that all parties are pursuing their political objectives by the same means."