There is nothing to suggest or establish that there is a "serial killer" on the loose, responsible for the disappearance of a number of women, according to the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue. Referring to comments made by a retired senior garda who alleged there was a serial killer on the loose, responsible for a number of unsolved murders, Mr O'Donoghue said the garda concerned was not involved in any of the original inquiries into these cases nor in Operation Trace, which reviewed the cases of six women who went missing between 1993 and 1998.

He told Mr Alan Shatter, Fine Gael's justice spokesman, that the Garda authorities informed him that as yet "no discernible pattern has emerged that would support the theory that a serial killer could have been involved in all of these disappearances".

He said the retired officer's comments amounted to "no more than speculation".