Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It might seem ironic to some that this motion tabled by Fianna Fáil would contain so many references to the rule of law, given one of the party's founder members, Seán Lemass, described it as a "slightly constitutional party". In fairness, his reference in that regard was owed to the party's revolutionary past rather than to its commitment to the rule of law, a commitment it still has. That revolutionary past was brought to the Department of Justice where many fundamental reforms were carried out. Various Fianna Fáil Ministers brought through revolutionary legislation in that Department. However, the revolution ground to a halt long ago. Under the last Government, Bills such as the immigration Bill languished for ever on the shelves so that our figures for processing asylum claims matched those of Greece almost as closely as our economic trajectory matched that of the same country. Similarly, people waited for citizenship, waiting hopelessly for a reply to their applications that could not and would never come. In fact the Fianna Fáil Party changed our citizenship laws so that every child born in this State is no longer automatically entitled to Irish citizenship. That, from a party that professes to be a republican party.

Since he came to power, the Minister, Deputy Shatter, has published a new version of that immigration and asylum Bill and has taken on many suggestions in that regard that came from all sides of the House. He has published what amounts to revolutionary legislation in the Personal Insolvency Act, the Jurisdiction of Courts and Enforcement of Justice Act, the National Vetting Bureau Act and many other reforms that were so badly needed, given the abject lack of reform for so long in the preceding period.

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