Fine Gael has called for a tribunal of inquiry into alleged misconduct by gardaí in Co Donegal to be opened within a month.
Following confirmation that the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, is to propose such an inquiry to the Cabinet next Tuesday, Fine Gael's Mr Jim Higgins said proposals should be put before the Dáil next Wednesday or Thursday.
"It should be set up at the earliest possible stage because this issue has already dragged on for too long," he said.
Mr Higgins said it was important that the inquiry's terms of reference were sufficiently broad to encompass all allegations of Garda misconduct in Donegal and not just those relating to the McBrearty family. There were allegations relating to five cases which would had to be covered.
Mr Higgins did not believe a shortage of judges should be used as an excuse to delay the inquiry because a retired judge could be appointed. He believed it could run through the election because, unlike the Flood and Moriarty tribunals, politicians were not centrally involved. He believed it should be held in Donegal.
Mr Higgins said Mr Shane Murphy, the Government-appointed barrister, had come to the same conclusion as Fine Gael, that a public sworn inquiry was the only way to establish the truth.
His recommendation had confounded Mr O'Donoghue's assertion that an inquiry could not be held while civil and criminal cases were pending.
There were some reservations in Raphoe at the prospect of an inquiry. Divisions were created after the suspicious death of local man Richie Barron in October 1996 and the subsequent arrest of members of the McBrearty family, who own a nightclub in the town.
One businessman said he believed many local people would be reluctant to give evidence as they would not want to be seen to be "taking sides".
Others expressed scepticism that the truth of Mr Barron's death would be established.
Mr Paudge Dorrian, the solicitor representing the only garda charged so far and the family of Richie Barron, said he was delighted an inquiry was to be held because it would "clarify the unfounded rumours and misinformation that is going out" about gardaí in Co Donegal.