The minutes of the meeting of 23 March have been circulated. Are they agreed? Agreed. Are there matters arising?
Before we begin the business of the meeting, it is appropriate that I should say a few words on the verdict handed down yesterday in Bogota on the case of the three Irishmen, Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley. This committee has followed the case with great interest and has been regularly briefed by Senator Mary White and the Department of Foreign Affairs. Senator White has taken a particular interest in the men's welfare and has travelled to Colombia on several occasions to monitor the situation and reported back to us. I am very pleased the men have been found not guilty of the major offence with which they were charged, that of training terrorists. They were convicted on the lesser charge of travelling on false documents and have been given sentences of up to three years for this. The men have now been detained in Colombia since August 2001, nearly three years ago. I hope they will soon be reunited with their families, who have borne the strain and uncertainty of their detention for that period.
Our main concern is to ensure the continuing safety of the men. I believe the best way to ensure this is to seek their deportation from Colombia as soon as possible. I would also like to thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs and his officials in the consular division of the Department and in our embassy in Mexico who have monitored this case closely from the start. They have at all times sought to ensure the safety of the men and to ensure they got a fair trial, despite some questionable coverage of the case in the Colombian and international media.