Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will add to that by acknowledging that Deputy Micheál Martin, as leader of Fianna Fáil, and the Fianna Fáil Party engaged in good faith with me and the Government over the weekend in our efforts to avert an unnecessary general election. Both parties were always of the view that an election should be avoided if it could be.

I regret that it necessitated the resignation of a very good person this morning but that ultimately was her decision, and ultimately that was what was required to avoid us going to the country tomorrow.

Turning to the other matters that we discussed over the weekend, the justice reforms will all be done and implemented. This includes an opportunity being given to Deputies to sit down with the senior officials in the Department to ask, face to face, exactly the questions they are asking so that answers can be given to them. As is the case in other Departments, a dedicated service or hot line will be set up in the Department of Justice and Equality which people can contact if they are not satisfied with the replies they are getting. This service already exists for matters related to social protection and health, and some other Departments. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, proposes to introduce that service for the Department of Justice and Equality also.

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