Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The motion is based on a fallacy. Fianna Fáil and the rest of the Opposition is attempting to convince us and themselves that the people are calling for the resignation of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter. They have presented no evidence for this and instead have chosen to focus on the Minister's personality. Parliamentarians should lead by example. Members opposite are giving the impression that it is acceptable to attack a human being on a personal basis. The public is not fooled. Over the weekend, the overwhelming response I received from constituents was to the effect that the motion represented populism gone mad. To illustrate my point, I share the contents of an e-mail I received last week. It said:

I wish to express my support for Minister Shatter and I hope he will have your full support too. Alan is a good man doing great work and I hope you extend my thanks and best wishes to him.

That is an example of the type of feedback I am getting about the Minister in whom I have full confidence. I wish the Members opposite could too.

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