Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has said the shooting of prison officer Brian Stack in March 1983 was wrong, a grievous loss for his family, and should not have happened.
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Adams said he had sought to help the Stack family.
He said Mr Stack's son, Austin, approached him in 2013 seeking confirmation about the killing of his father.
He said they did not want people to go to jail, but they wanted closure.
He said Austin Stack spoke of his commitment to restorative process, and Mr Adams said he could only help the Stack family on the basis of confidentiality, which they agreed to.
He said Mr Stack's sons Austin and Oliver were given a statement, acknowledging the IRA was responsible, that it had not been authorised and the person had been disciplined.
He said they acknowledged the process and issued a statement thanking him for facilitating the outcome.
Mr Adams said that in 2013 Austin Stack gave him four names who he believed had information on the case, which he had been given by gardaí and journalist sources.
"Why on earth would I say I received the names from him if I didn't?" Mr Adams asked.
Mr Adams said Austin Stack had also given the names to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.
The Sinn Fein leader said that during the recent election campaign the Fianna Fáil leader and others repeated a lot of what was said in 2013 - he said it was part of an election strategy against Sinn Féin.
He said additional allegations were made about withholding information from gardaí.
Mr Adams said that to remove any uncertainty or ambiguity he e-mailed the Garda Commissioner the names Austin Stack had given him.
"I never at any time described those named as 'suspects'", Mr Adams told the Dáil.
"I made it clear I had no information on the death of Brian Stack".
He added that the e-mail was only sent after he had spoken to three of the four and he added that there is a live garda investigation with which he is willing to co-operate.
Mr Adams said he had never sought publicity on these issues, pointing out that any public comments that he has made have been in response to others.
He said today's statement in the Dáil was following an e-mail he wrote to the Garda Commissioner, being put "inappropriately" in the public realm and raised in the Dáil twice by Mr Martin.
Mr Adams noted the word "inappropriately" due to the live investigation into the murder of Brian Stack.
He accused Mr Martin and Taoiseach Enda Kenny of being unconcerned over prejudicing the trial or any future trial in relation to the matter.
Mr Adams accused the Fianna Fáil Leader of misleading the Dáil.
He denied Mr Martin's claims that he described the names as "suspects", that he took a note of the meeting with Austin Stack and that he took Austin and Oliver Stack to the meeting in a blacked-out van.
Mr Adams said Mr Kenny even claimed he drove the van - which he said was not true.
He told the Dáil that he travelled with the Stack brothers in his own car to a "pre-arranged place at the border" where they were taken in a van to a meeting in Northern Ireland.
Mr Adams said Mr Martin and Mr Kenny should correct the Dáil record on these matters.
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Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell intervened and said it was appropriate that two other individuals who he said had been named and whose names were in the public domain - Sinn Féin TDs Dessie Ellis and Martin Ferris -should be given the opportunity to address the House.
Mr Ellis interjected to say he was actually in jail for the period in question in Portlaoise Prison, and before that had been in America.
Turning to Mr Farrell, who Mr Ellis said claimed to be a solicitor, he told him to "check his facts".
Mr Ferris then interjected to say he met gardaí in 2013 about the death of Mr Stack, he co-operated fully with them, and had nothing to answer.
He said it was a disgrace that they had come into the House and named names.
Mr Adams made the statement in the Dáil after being granted permission from the Ceann Comhairle yesterday.
In response to Mr Adams' statement the sons of Brian Stack rejected his version of events.
Speaking to reporters outside the Dáil, Austin Stack said his initial reaction was that the Dáil chamber had been debased in the grossest terms by Mr Adams.
Mr Stack also said Mr Adams made allegations that he gave him names of individuals which he insisted that he did not.
He said they told Mr Adams after the speech exactly what they had thought of what he had said.
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