Harney asks Garda for report on return of men

Government reaction: The return of the "Colombia Three" was never raised in negotiations with Sinn Féin prior to the recent IRA statement, the Taoiseach has said.

In a separate statement, the Tánaiste insisted the Government "was not or could not be" party to any deal on the men's return "in these circumstances".

Mr Ahern interrupted his holiday in Kerry at the weekend to dismiss rumours that there had been an understanding on the issue.

The suggestion "is false and it's untrue and it's unhelpful", he said in an interview with RTÉ.

"So just to make it clear. This issue was never discussed. No understanding on it. Never even mentioned in any of the meetings, either with me or my Ministers, or officials."

Issues such as the passports used by the men to travel to Colombia would be for the Garda and the DPP to investigate, the Taoiseach added.

"Whether [the men] are on the run or not, I assume the issue of offences that they may or may not be responsible for are matters that the gardaí would look at. And, of course, any prosecution in the normal way would be taken up by the independent DPP office."

He also said he did not believe the men were on the run: "I understand they are not unavailable for contact and questioning."

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Justice said Mr McDowell was on a family holiday in Australia and would not be commenting for the time being.

But Tánaiste Mary Harney - acting Justice Minister in his absence - said she had asked the Garda for a report on the men's return, focusing on their ability to re-enter the country. She added: "There are very serious issues as to how they were able to return . . . particularly given that they had been travelling on fraudulent passports."