Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has withdrawn remarks he made in Dáil linking the Green Party to the recent Dublin riots.
Mr McDowell claimed earlier this month that Green Party TD John Gormley's "type of people" had vandalised the PD offices during unrest at the planned "Love Ulster" march down in Dublin on February 25th.
But this evening Mr McDowell told the Dáil he would like to withdraw the remark.
This followed an attempt by Green Party leader Trevor Sargent to have time set aside to allow the Minister correct the record.
Earlier today Mr McDowell apologised unreservedly to Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton for comparing him to Nazi propagandist Dr Joseph Goebbels.
During an angry outburst over claims on Garda numbers yesterday, the minister accused Mr Bruton of a "con job" after he published a reply to a parliamentary question which showed that the number of gardaí on the streets of Dublin was just two higher last December 31st than it had been on the same date the year before.
The number of gardaí had "hugely increased" since he took office, he insisted, adding that Mr Bruton's use of figures was "hypocritical, misleading and a sham, con-job".
Mr McDowell accused Mr Bruton of having "manipulated public opinion in a disgraceful way" and compared him to Nazi propagandist Dr Joseph Goebbels.
However, speaking on RTE's Morning Irelandtoday, Mr McDowell said he regretted this remark and had suffered "a slightly sleepless night" as a result of making it.
"I am big enough to admit that I made a mistake here. I admit I did play the man and not the ball and and I don't think it was fair of me," Mr McDowell said. "I apologise unreservedly to Mr Bruton.
But in the Dáil this evening, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny described Mr McDowell's comments as "disgraceful" and claimed his outburst showed that his policies on crime prevention were not working.
Mr Kenny criticised the Government for failing to tackle the rising level of serious crime, claiming the level of detection had "continuously fallen" under Mr Ahern's stewardship.
But Mr Ahern claimed the overall crime figures were down despite a growing population.
He said the number of gardai would reach 14,000 by next Christmas which represented the biggest Garda recruitment drive since the foundation of the State.
