Legislation for the regulation of passports is to be published on Thursday, having been approved at last week's Cabinet meeting.
Government sources said the case of the so-called "Colombia Three" was one of the factors behind the decision by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern to prepare the Passports Bill 2007. While it is possible the Bill may not pass all stages if a general election is called, there are procedures for reinstating the proposed legislation, which is considered non-contentious, in the next Dáil.
Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs Bernard Allen TD said: "I have not had sight of it as of now, and until I have seen the draft Bill I can't comment."
In the Colombia case, three Irishmen, James Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly, were convicted in Bogota of using false passports, in addition to the main charge of training Farc guerrillas. Connolly was convicted of holding a false Irish passport, while his two colleagues were convicted of holding false British passports.
The case highlighted the fact that there are no specific offences in the Irish Statute Book relating to the use of false passports. Up to now the Irish passport service has operated under the general provisions of the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924.
The legislation is being introduced against a background of heightened awareness about passport security and identity theft.
The Government has invested €34 million in the passport service over the past five years, including the introduction of biometric passports.
The Bill recognises the right of every citizen to have a passport, subject to some exceptions based on the common good.
A lesser offence is included to cover the use by a young person of a passport which was not issued to him or her to gain entry to a licensed premises. The Bill also makes it an offence for a bouncer to hold on to a passport he or she has seized.
It also recognises the right of a transsexual to have a passport in their new name and gender.
