The Minister for Justice has insisted he is fully entitled to seek and receive reports from the Garda Commissioner on the "Colombia Three" case, in the face of sharp criticism from a Fianna Fáil backbencher and civil libertarians.
Mr McDowell has received an interim report from the Garda Síochána on the case of Niall Connolly, Martin McAuley and James Monaghan, who went to Garda stations to be interviewed.
He demanded the report as PD members publicly stated their anger at the manner in which the men were allowed to maximise the publicity surrounding their visits to Garda stations.
Gardaí are now preparing a file for the DPP in relation to the three men who fled Colombia after being sentenced to up to 17 years for training Farc guerrillas.
Mr McDowell demanded a report from the Garda after the men attended pre-arranged meetings with detectives without the Government having any significant prior notice.
His spokesman yesterday robustly defended the Minister's action, after Fianna Fáil backbencher Jim Glennon and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties questioned the extent of the Minister's involvement in the matter.
While disclosing that Mr McDowell has now received an interim report from the Garda Síochána on "all issues involved" in the case, the spokesman would not give details of what these "issues" were. He said that contrary to criticisms voiced by the ICCL, "it is not true to suggest that briefings to the Minister on matters of national importance by an Garda Síochána impinge in any way on the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers.
"It is the statutory duty of An Garda Síochána to keep the Minister fully informed of such matters."
He denied a claim by Fianna Fáil TD Jim Glennon that he had sought daily briefings from the Garda on the investigation. He had merely sought one report. He would not say whether Mr McDowell had sought a report on the progress of the investigation, the manner in which the three men had gone to speak to gardaí last week, or some broader policy issue.
Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties Aisling Reidy yesterday acknowledged that the recent Garda Síochána Act gave the Minister extensive powers to require that the Garda commissioner keep him "fully informed" of significant developments.
However, writing in the Sunday Business Post she said that the Minister's apparent "anger and frustration" in his reaction to developments in this case, coupled with his "orders" to the commissioner to produce a report, "gives rise to the perception that McDowell may be using his power to interfere with an investigation under the guise of holding gardaí to account".