asked the Minister for Justice if any requests were made to his Department by a member or members of the Special Branch to seek a warrant to search a house in County Wicklow on the Thursday prior to the murder of Garda Fallon.

My Department have no function whatsoever in relation to the issue of warrants to the Garda Síochána. In ordinary circumstances, I would not be prepared to disclose the nature of communications between my Department and the police but in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding on this occasion the answer to the question is "No".