The Vice-President of Colombia, Mr Francisco Santos, is to be invited to meet the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss human rights issues in his country during a visit to Ireland in mid-March, according to senior political sources.
Meanwhile, a Fianna Fáil member of the committee, Senator Mary White, has told it in a private session that a verdict in the trial of three Irish citizens on bomb-making charges was unlikely to be delivered before next month.
She said Judge Jairo Acosta was "taking time out to focus specifically on the case".
Reporting on her sixth visit to Bogota to monitor the case of Mr Niall Connolly, Mr Martin McCauley and Mr James Monaghan, she said the three men were in a "very depressed" state after 2½ years in prison.
"The continued delay in the judgment is clearly adding to the strain on the men and is taking its toll on their well-being.
"The fact that Ireland holds the EU presidency at present adds to the significance of the case and offers the Irish Government additional leverage in pressing for a speedy and fair conclusion.
"The recent visit of Chris Patten, Commissioner for External Relations of the EU, put further focus on the human rights conditions in Colombia as an issue in the EU/Colombian relationship."
The trial of the three men ended on August 1st last year and six months later there is no verdict. "Two judges representing the Association of Judges - Judge Jairo Acosta, the trial judge, is a member - said that the justice system in Colombia is in profound crisis because of congestion and inefficiencies. They told us that President Uribe wishes to get rid of their Association of Judges."