Calls for a public inquiry into the shooting dead of Mr John Carthy by gardai at Abbeylara, Co Longford, were premature, "in the absence of a complete knowledge of all the circumstances", the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, told the Dail.

He said it was too soon to conclude there were grounds for such an inquiry. The Minister said it was very important while the investigation was under way to "avoid speculating as to what may or may not have happened, to avoid drawing premature conclusions and to refrain from attributing blame".

Mr O'Donoghue added, however, that it was undeniably a matter of public interest and raised serious issues. He stressed that all the facts established by the inquiry would be put in the public domain.

The Minister also appealed to Fine Gael's justice spokesman, Mr Jim Higgins, to desist from his tendency to be judgmental about the gardai before any inquiry was completed.

He said that in as much as each individual in society was presumed innocent until proved guilty, "so too members of the Garda Siochana are entitled to the adoption of the rule of law".

Mr Higgins, who raised the issue, said it had to be central to any investigation "how a minor domestic situation" was allowed to escalate to a major siege.

He said there were 10 questions that had to be answered including how the gardai justified the huge Garda presence at the house since there was never a hostage situation; who decided that the heavily armed Garda Emergency Response Unit was required in such numbers, and was it true that the ERU had only recently begun their special training.

He asked how many shots were fired and by how many gardai; and why was Mr Carthy's body not left where he died until inspected by the State pathologist instead of being taken to Mullingar.