allow a user to see current_query in pg_stat_activity in 8.4

This seems like a question whose answer must be right in front of me, but I am not seeing it.

We want to create a role used by a monitor to check for "<IDLE> in Transaction" with the most restrictive permissions we can on a 8.4.13 instance.

The user has been granted connect privilege to the database and some limited permissions to user tabhles that need to be monitored. But pg_stat_activity shows only "<insufficient privilege>"

I've trolled the archives and postgres docs with no success.

Could some kind soul point me in the right direction ?

Thanks!

Greg Williamson