The Government has given a new assurance to the widow of Det Garda Jerry McCabe that his IRA killers will not benefit from the early release scheme under the Belfast Agreement.
Mrs Anne McCabe met the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, earlier this week in Dublin. It is understood she sought a meeting after news emerged that the four killers were among a group of Provisional IRA prisoners who have been moved from the high-security Portlaoise Prison to the lower security institution at Castlerea.
The rest of the 20 Provisional IRA prisoners are getting regular periods of temporary release before their final release in the new year.
However, the Government has stated that Garda McCabe's killers will not benefit from the early release terms of the agreement. It is understood this reassurance was repeated to Mrs McCabe.
During the Belfast Agreement negotiations, Sinn Fein negotiators sought to have the four men included in the early release scheme but were turned down.
Pearse McAuley of Strabane, Jeremiah Sheehy of Rathkeale, Co Limerick, and Michael O'Neill and Kevin Walsh, both of Patrickswell, Co Limerick, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after murder charges were dropped when a State witness refused to give evidence.