The Minister for Justice denied he was responsible for the release of the five men charged with drug offences during heated exchanges while answering questions following his statement.

"If there was bungling, and if there was ignorance, and if there was any kind of negligence . . . it clearly did not emanate from me," said Mr O'Donoghue, to uproar from the opposition benches.

He was replying to Ms Liz McManus (DL, Wicklow), who said that what the Minister had presented to the House was "a remarkable story of bungling, incompetence and ignorance". The State had been the only player which did not have legal representation when gardai went to court for an extension of the detention order, she said.

When the detention order was sought, the judge did not know he did not have the power, the gardai did not know, and the Department did not know. "I think that a bewildered public would like to known a very simple answer to a very simple question: how were the gardai and the judge supposed to know this information if there was no procedure in place? The Minister is responsible, is he not?"

She asked if Mr O'Donoghue had no role to play. "It is unacceptable to the public that you are not taking responsibility . . . ?"

The Minister said it was the cause of the "deepest, deepest concern" that the gardai and Judge Windle did not know, at the time of the original application, that the judge was not nominated by the President of the District Court.

"But can I repeat for the umpteenth time that the wording of the warrant, which was issued by Judge Windle, reassured the gardai in their belief that he had in fact been nominated. These judges had been nominated by the President of the District Court in 1996," he added. "If opposition deputies feel that those judges should have been advised of their nomination, then they should have done it in government if they believed it was their duty."

He added that certain provisions of the legislation had been renewed last July. "At no stage did anybody say to me that the Minister for Justice who preceded me had never informed the district justices concerned that they had been nominated by the President of the District Court. So if there is blame in that respect, well then I think in all fairness it lies with the previous administration and the inquisitors who have come in here today on a different agenda."

When the Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Jim Higgins, said the Minister was effectively blaming Judge Windle for what had happened, Mr O'Donoghue replied that he took great exception to the charge that he had "shelved" the blame on to the judge.

"I have taken great pains to explain the distinction between the roles of various judges in this matter. I have taken great pains as well to explain that it is not for me to apportion blame."

The Labour spokesman on justice, Dr Pat Upton, said what had happened was due to a simple administrative error which could have been avoided.

Mr Pat Rabbitte (DL, Dublin South West) asked why the Minister had come into the House last week to give a "lamentable" performance in such a state of unpreparedness without any official or knowledge of the issue.

"He comes in today with so many officials that the only thing missing is a photographer in the bullpen," he added. "Can I ask the Minister if he understands the implications of that performance, and why this House would not have confidence in any minister who allows his officials send him into this House in the naked state that he came in last Thursday?"

Mr O'Donoghue said he had to respond to special notice questions last week once they had been allowed by the Ceann Comhairle, and give what information he could.

"I have throughout this entire affair, whether I performed lamentably or whether I performed well, been as honest and as truthful as I could have possibly been," he added. He assured Mr Rabbitte that he was very much in charge of the Department.

"I do quite well recall a very famous speech by Deputy Rabbitte here in the House regarding me seeing criminals on hedgerows on my journey from Dublin to Caherciveen . . . In the meanwhile, from behind the darkened windows of State Mercedes, the red band of the Rainbow saw no problem," said the Minister.

Replying to Mr John Gormley (Green Party, Dublin South East) who sought an assurance there would never be a repeat of "this comedy of errors", Mr O'Donoghue said the tightening up of procedures and any possible need to amend the legislation would receive immediate attention. He added that he had met with the Garda Commissioner to discuss the matter.

"It is grossly unfair, although I accept it as a matter of political life, to come in here with histrionics on a vindictive mission," he added.

Mr Andrew Boylan (FG, Cavan-Monaghan) said the "terrible shambles" of last weekend had seriously undermined the great work of the gardai charged with the task of preventing drug abuse in the State. "While you are Minister for Justice in this country, crime will pay," he said.

Mr O'Donoghue said he did not believe the gardai had been undermined. "You cannot get away with serious crime in this country so far as I am concerned," he added.