The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, yesterday strongly defended his handling of the Garda pay dispute and rejected claims that he promised gardai their demands would be met.

In an emergency debate, he said he wished to "reject vehemently . . . the accusation that I created high expectations or was in any way the cause of this particular dispute".

He said that in the run-up to the last general election he promised gardai that he would raise the issue of a commission on pay only "in the context of the strategic management initiative and/or the implementation of our crime policy".

"The politically expedient thing to do would have been to say that, `yes, we will definitely have a commission on pay; yes, we will definitely give you an increase'. But I did neither of those things."

Mr O'Donoghue admitted that Garda pay had "fallen behind" but said the threatened action was "unjustified, unwarranted and out of all proportion to the reality of the situation as it presently stands".

He said the Government's 7 per cent offer remains on the table, subject to further negotiation within the parameters of overall public pay policy. "There is still some distance which can be travelled before either side adopts its final position. In those circumstances, it seems to me that (today's) action is all the more pointless."

He said the real problem in negotiations was the Garda Representative Association's refusal to operate within the confines of national pay policy as set out in the Programme for Competitiveness and Work.

The Minister stressed "that no progress could be made on the issue of pay until the protest action was suspended and the association agreed to return to the negotiating table".

He added, "No Government can yield to the demands of any group of public service employees in the face of action which can only have the effect of threatening the safety of the community".

During his speech, more than a dozen members of the GRA walked out of the Dail's public gallery in protest.

In relation to contingency plans, if today's protest goes ahead, the Minister said he discussed the matter on Wednesday with the Garda Commissioner, who was "confident that he could provide an adequate police service with the resources he expected to be available".

Mr O'Donoghue said detailed information could not be given out for security reasons. But he did confirm the Garda authorities had drawn up plans to address specific issues, such as general patrolling, response to calls, security at banks, airports and communications centres, court attendances and prisoner escorts.

He said the commissioner would have at his disposal some 2,300 high-rank gardai, 200 trainee gardai and more than 850 gardai who have full powers but are still on probation. Mr O'Donoghue said he also understood the commissioner had arranged for the Defence Forces to be put on stand-by.

The Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Jim Higgins, said the Minister's handling of the issue was to blame for the "unprecedented" level of anger, frustration and bitterness among gardai.

He suggested the Minister had promised a 15 per cent pay rise to the Garda while in Opposition.

Mr Higgins said the State was now facing "a national emergency". According to his information, up to 80 per cent of the force would not report for duty today.

The Democratic Left spokeswoman on justice, Ms Liz McManus, said Mr O'Donoghue's handling of the crisis cast a doubt over his competence to fulfil his ministerial role.

Addressing Mr O'Donoghue, she said: "In Opposition you were guilty of outrageous conduct. You deliberately exaggerated the extent of crime in order to paint yourself as the champion who would bring in zero tolerance. You led the Opposition front bench out to meet the gardai when they protested outside the gates of this House over a year ago. You encouraged the GRA to believe that when in Government you would deliver on their demands."

Ms McManus said the GRA's acting general secretary, Mr P.J. Stone, was on public record saying he believed their demands would be met. "Now whatever opinions one has about P.J. Stone and there are many different opinions, nobody could call him a stupid man. He is a man who sees a flag when it is waved under his nose and he is not afraid to talk about it afterwards."

The Labour Party spokesman on justice, Mr Pat Upton, said it was time to consider lifting the ban on gardai joining trade unions.