Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has insisted that Garda officers investigating the "Colombia Three" will visit the South American country to liaise with authorities there.
I was told at the most senior level of An Garda Síochána that they were definitely going to do it
His comments come amid reports saying Garda sources had indicated no decision has been made on a trip and Amnesty International condemned a new Colombian law which it says helps right-wing paramilitaries continue to commit human rights abuses.
The Colombia Three - Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan, who announced their return to Ireland on August 5 th- are on the run from Colombia after being convicted on appeal of training left-wing Farc guerrillas and sentenced to 17 years each. They were also convicted of travelling on false passports but were judged to have served their sentences while awaiting trial.
Mr McDowell yesterday told the first Cabinet meeting since the summer break that a visit to Colombia by Irish detectives is "probable" But the Garda responded by claiming such a visit was less than probable at this stage, saying it was only among "many options" being considered.
A Garda spokesman added: "Gardaí are conducting criminal investigations into possible passport and other offences. We have been in contact with other police forces. Many options are open to us including sending officers overseas."
The Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte seized on the apparent confusion and poured scorn on the Government and the Progressive Democrats in particular.
"So after all the huffing and puffing by the Government and, in particular, by the PDs, the sum total of the Cabinet's deliberations is that a couple of Gardai may or may not be sent on a fool's errand to Colombia," Mr Rabbitte said.
"After all the huffing and puffing the Colombia Three have regrettably upstaged the Government and indeed our democratic system and the PDs have not walked out of Government."
Speaking to Newstalk 106, the Minister said: "I was told at the most senior level of An Garda Síochána that they were definitely going to do it [travel to Colombia], and that I can quote them on that," insisted Mr McDowell.
"This is an area where people engage in spin and we have to be very, very careful to make it very clear that Ireland is a country where we uphold the law."
Mr McDowell repeated that there has been no request from the Colombian government for the extradition of the three men. He said if the Colombian government requested an extradition agreement be put in place, "that will be engaged upon".
He acknowledged that extradition could prove legally difficult and said if the matter came before the courts in Ireland then the defendants could make their case.
He said the US had expressed "concern at diplomatic level as to whether there wil be a legal response in this area".
The Minister denied the suggestion that coalition partners in Fianna Fáil were not as committed to the pursuit of the three as the Progressive Democrats.
"I do not detect any differences in emphasis or attitude between the two parties in Government at Government level on this issue," he said.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has condemned a Colombian law limiting investigations into paramilitary atrocities and reducing jail sentences for those convicted of related crimes.
Amnesty says the law benefits right-wing paramiltaries and effectively gives them licence to act with impunity. It says the evidence from the country's third largest city, Medellin - notorious for its powerful drug barons - shows the paramilitary demobilization policy instituted by President Alvaro Uribe in 2003 has benefited the right-wing paramilitaries in the area.
And the new Justice and Peace law, recently passed by Congress and backed on Tuesday by the Organization of American States will worsen the situation a newly published Amnesty report says.
"The Justice and Peace law will open the way to recycle paramilitary members, even those responsible for killings, kidnappings, 'disappearances' and torture, into security guards, civilian police and informants.
"Furthermore, in the future, the law could also apply to members of guerrilla groups who have also been responsible for serious and repeated abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law," said Marcelo Pollack, author of the Amnesty report.