The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has said she was "certain" last Tuesday that the Taoiseach was going to put the facts of his representations in the Sheedy case on the Dail record.
"There was no doubt about it, and I haven't heard any reason why it didn't happen. Perhaps I should have pursued it with more vigour - I was away in Luxembourg and I had a number of other things on my mind. I regret now that I didn't," she told reporters in Co Donegal yesterday morning.
Ms Harney said she was "not pleased", adding: "Nobody could be pleased that a matter of this nature came into the public domain in the way it did."
She said she "didn't go with a gun to the Taoiseach's head", and that Mr Ahern had not expressed a problem with putting it on the Dail record. "He told me in fact that he would put it on the Dail record, and why he didn't I just don't know," she said.
She admitted that it had not been "a good few days for the Government".
She said she would talk to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, later in the day and it was "a matter for the Taoiseach to explain why he didn't avail of the opportunity to put this on the Dail record".
When asked if she now believed the Government would run for another three years, she replied: "I don't know about that."
She said she had not spoken to the Taoiseach since last Tuesday but that this was not unusual, given that there had been a bank holiday weekend and she was in Luxembourg last week.
Ms Harney said she had known about the Taoiseach's representations for only two weeks, from April 14th, and had asked then that it be put into the public domain. When a question arose in the Dail, she spoke further to the Taoiseach.
She said that the Taoiseach first told her on April 14th that he had made representations on the Philip Sheedy case. She said she told him then that she believed he should put that into the public domain because the Dail was in recess.
"Last Tuesday there was a question down to the Taoiseach in relation to the Philip Sheedy case. I discussed it with him after the Cabinet meeting. I told him my view that it should be put on the record of the Dail.
"Later that afternoon the question wasn't raised, and I spoke to the Taoiseach on the telephone and again I reiterated my view. The Taoiseach told me he would put it on the Dail record. The question arose on Wednesday. I was away in Luxembourg. I didn't get back to Ireland until Friday. I was in Limerick all day Friday and I've come to Donegal and I've been here since."
ail record. I haven't spoken to the Taoiseach since last Tuesday, and I don't know why it is that the opportunity wasn't availed of when a question was being answered in the Philip Sheedy case to put the facts on the Dail record.
"There was nothing wrong with the representations and no inappropriate action was taken on foot of the representations. The Minister for Justice did not release Philip Sheedy, even though there were a number of requests to do so, to release him on a day-release as the Minister for Justice has said. ail record the fact that the Taoiseach had made representations and I regret very much that this matter has now come into the public domain in the way it has," she said.
Ms Harney added: "We cannot have situations like this emerging. This could have been avoided. It should have been avoided."