Enda Kenny has now said he received no specific warning that Ireland might need to deploy the army on the streets to protect the country’s banks, but rather a more general set of contingency plans for security measures in the event of the collapse of the euro.

The Taoiseach last week said that the governor of the Central bank, Patrick Honohan, warned him that the country was just days from needing to deploy troops onto the streets to guard ATMs. It was the second time he made such a claim, with Minister for Defence Simon Coveney and Minister for Finance Michael Noonan also making similar statements over the past year.

Speaking in Dublin today, Mr Kenny said that from the moment he was elected as Taoiseach, and with a breakup of the eurozone still possible, there were a range of contingency plans worked on by various Government departments, including his own department, the Department of Finance and by the Central Bank.

"These were matters that were being discussed and the government did set up a task force comprised of a number of departments and agencies, of which the department of finance, the (Department of the) Taoiseach (and) the Central Bank were all involved,” Mr Kenny said. 

“They considered all of these contingencies and clearly the question of security in the event of a breakup of the euro currency was one that was considered,” he added.

When asked if he had received a specific briefing from Mr Honohan on protecting the banks with the army, he said: “No. Not specific, no.”

Last week Mr Kenny told a conference in Madrid that Mr Honohan had specifically told him at one time: "It looks like this weekend ... you’ll have to put the army around the banks and around the ATM machines, and introduce capital controls like they had in Cyprus.”

On October 7 he made a similar statement.

In November 2014 Simon Coveney told Newstalk that "the Taoiseach was getting briefed by the Central Bank that ... the army may have to surround banks."

Finance Minister Michael Noonan last week confirmed there were discussions on security measures around the time, but was unsure if there had been specific warnings given.

Opposition parties called for clarification on the Taoiseach’s comments last week, with Fianna Fáíl’s Finance Spokesperson Michael McGrath saying the Taoiseach’s remarks sounded “like comments that are shaped by a Taoiseach that is facing into an election and is trying to paint a certain picture.”

Mr McGrath also queried why, if the story was true, the Taoiseach had neglected to mention it when testifying before the Banking Inquiry.