Garda authorities and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform have to draw up an emergency plan that would be adopted if Friday's threatened Garda walkout goes ahead, the Dail was told.

Mr O'Donoghue said he was monitoring and assessing the situation to ensure the public received adequate services on May 1st, when gardai may stay away from work unless pay demands are met.

However, he said, it was not possible to indicate precise security measures as "it would be completely and utterly counterproductive and contrary to long-standing practice to discuss strategies put in place by the Garda Siochana authorities to cope with particular situations".

Responding to Private Notice Questions, Mr O'Donoghue also strongly denied suggestions that he encouraged Garda representative bodies to pursue pay claims while in opposition.

He said he wanted "to nail the lie" that he gave "some massive commitment prior to the last general election". He said he told the Garda representative bodies that discussions on pay would take place only in the context of the overall reform of the force.

The Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Jim Higgins, accused Mr O'Donoghue of "gross hypocrisy" by attempting to "put the genie back in the bottle. He himself is the architect of the present impasse and the present chaos."

Mr Higgins claimed Mr O'Donoghue had given "categorical assurances" to the Garda bodies that their demands would be met. He said the present industrial action is a result of Garda frustration at those assurances not being met.

Ms Nora Owen (Fine Gael, Dublin North) accused the Minister of "inciting" the Garda bodies while in opposition "to make as much noise as they could about pay rises".

The Democratic Left spokeswoman on justice, Ms Liz McManus, said it was an "unedifying spectacle" to see the Minister wringing his hands on the issue.

She said Mr O'Donoghue, known for his zero tolerance policy, would become "the Minister for zero policing if he continues on the way he is going".

The Labour spokesman on justice, Mr Pat Upton, said criminals would walk free on Friday because of Mr O'Donoghue's "ineptitude".

Mr O'Donoghue repeatedly rejected the claims that he encouraged or gave categorical assurances on pay to the Garda representative bodies while in opposition.

He said the Garda has drafted strategies on providing cover at banks, airports and communication centres on Friday if industrial action goes ahead. He said he was not aware of specific measures which would be taken if gardai were required to give evidence in courts.

Mr O'Donoghue said it was "possible, even probable" that some gardai would not appear for work on Friday if the disruption went ahead. But he said it was unlikely that the Garda would allow the situation to descend into that painted by the Opposition.

He appealed to Opposition parties not "to send out messages which would give rise to excessive anxieties among members of the public and particularly among vulnerable people".

He added: "My officials are, of course, in contact with the Garda on a consistent basis in relation to this matter and there has obviously been high-level discussion to ensure that strategies are in place to ensure that gardai will be deployed to optimum effect."

Mr O'Donoghue said discussions on the pay issue had been set up just before Christmas through an independent committee established by the Department.

The chairman of the committee, Mr Declan Brennan, had recommended discussions should continue between the Department and representative bodies on the basis of an increased pay rise offer of 7 per cent.

Mr O'Donoghue said the Government accepted his recommendation on April 18th. He was glad the AGSI had returned to the negotiating table and called for the GRA to do the same.

He said he had received no formal notice regarding the precise nature of the GRA disruption nor the level of support the protest might attract.

The Minister added it would be an "extremely grave development if the largest Garda association for the first time in the distinguished history of the force left their posts en masse and in doing so left their fellow citizens without the level and quality of service which we all value and respect".

He said the protest was designed to cause difficulties for members of the force and in the community in which they serve.

Mr O'Donoghue said he would not "negotiate a pay deal across the floor of the House", adding: "the Government's only concern in this matter is the public interest."