Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have wanted to come in particularly to speak on this motion because of the confidence I have in the Minister, Deputy Shatter. I have known the Minister for a couple of decades. We have worked together in the past but never as closely as in Cabinet. He has brought a sense of dynamism and energy to the Department in a consistent and clear way and I can think of very few of his predecessors who have been able to do as much as he has done in such a short period of time. He has made decisions which other people did not have the courage to make. Although reality necessitated that they be made, other people ran away from them.

Deputy Healy has left the Chamber but if we want to have a modern Army we needed to get the sort of changes that were proposed not just in Kickham Barracks, but in other barracks as well. The combination of two portfolios in one, defence and justice, has given the Minister an extraordinary overview of the situation in this country and the needs. The suggestion for the closing of barracks originated with the Garda. The Minister did not go out in the night and try to identify buildings that should be closed. The Opposition Members know just how ineffective some of those Garda stations were.

The Minister, Deputy Shatter, is a member of Fine Gael working closely with colleagues from the Labour Party in this coalition that is attempting to rebuild this country that was so systematically destroyed by Fianna Fáil, as the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan has described. We are having a three-hour debate on a motion of confidence in this man here beside me who has worked extraordinary changes in such a short period of time, and has more to come. He has given a dignity to all the people who have come here who have sought to become Irish citizens in the citizenship ceremony that now takes place. For people who have been here for many years and who have contributed to our economy in hospitals and so many different aspects of life, that ceremony is real and tangible. I would recommend that any Deputy who has not had the opportunity to observe it at first hand should do so. For those reasons and many more, which time prevents me from identifying, the Labour Party and I have full confidence in the role of Deputy Shatter as Minister for Justice and Equality and Minister for Defence.

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