The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, will decide "in due course" whether to send a legal observer to attend the trial of the three Irishmen who were arrested in Colombia last year.
The decision would be made in the light of "an assessment of all aspects of the issue", the Minister of State, Mr John Browne, said for the Minister.
The issue was raised in the Dáil by Mr Finian McGrath (Ind, Dublin North Central) who appealed for legal representative.
He added that, despite all the hype, there was no real forensic evidence against the men, and the only case against them was false documentation.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/5cf4f137-e78e-4bdb-a43b-6311e855e51f.png)