The Minister for Foreign Affairs said today he recognised the "trauma and pain" suffered by the families of those killed and injured in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
However, Mr Cowen refused to be comment directly on the lack of co-operation shown by British authorities in compiling the Barron report.
Brian Cowen
In his report published yesterday evening, Mr Justice Barron criticised the lack of co-operation by the British government, which refused to make original documents available to the inquiry.
Following a trawl of 68,000 files, the-then Northern Ireland secretary of state Dr John Reid provided a 16-page document to the inquiry in February 2002, nearly 18 months after information was sought.
But speaking at a press conference today, Mr Cowen said he could "make no judgement beyond the conclusions of the report".
"The report has been referred to the Dáil Committee and we await their recommendations.
"There is a process here and that has to be respected. Obviously the pain and trauma of the families has to be taken into account. One recognises the pain and trauma of the families."
Asked if members of the 1974 Government should be obliged to make submissions to the committee, Mr Cowen said that was a matter for the committee itself.
The then Fine Gael/Labour coalition led by Mr Liam Cosgrave came in for stinging criticism from Mr Justice Barron. "It can be said that the Government of the day showed little interest in the bombings," he said in the report.
The report said there was no proven evidence of collusion between members of the security forces in the North and the perpetrators of the bombings. But it did not rule out the involvement of individual RUC, UDR or British army members and criticised the lack of co-operation by the British government, which refused to make original documents available to the inquiry.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, and the Government Chief Whip, Ms Hanafin, will discuss the possibility of debating the Barron report in the Dáil before the Christmas recess.
Last night, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights - which will today begins discussing the report - is to report to the Dáil within three months.