The IRA is still recruiting, training and acquiring weapons, a leaked document claimed tonight.
According to the document obtained by UTV, the IRA's continued activity is a precautionary tactic rather than a sign that it is returning to war.
The document, which surfaced on the eve of the latest round of multi-party talks to restore devolution, also claimed Sinn Fein was preparing for a move onto the policing board.
UTV reported that the document, which allegedly originated in Dublin, believed the IRA was "actively engaged in training, targeting, recruiting and acquiring small quantities of weapons as a precaution rather than in preparation for a return to war".
It also said there was no evidence of an increase in republican activities.
However, the authors expressed concern that while for a generation of republicans the war was over, the generation following them did not have the same memory of the troubles.
It also said that the Government was worried that there could be a possible "fracturing or leeching away of Provisionals to dissidents if the leadership of republicanism were to pursue a policy of winding down the IRA."
Officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs were tight-lipped about claims that the document was theirs.
The leaked document also claimed that there was increased cooperation between dissident republican groups the Real IRA and Continuity IRA. Their combined membership was estimated at about 100 members, the television report claimed.
There was no evidence of more dissident activity, the document observed.
Significantly, UTV claimed the authors reported that there had been "good meetings" with Sinn Fein on the policing issue.
The document also claimed the Sinn Fein leadership was focused on all confident issues affecting the Belfast Agreement.