Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The legal structure provided for in this legislation formalises a position whereby a Circuit Court judge can be nominated to deal with the matter. I am curious as to why Senators O'Donovan and Byrne are so exercised by this issue. I will come back to the points made by Senator Mullen.

It seems that Senator Byrne and the Fianna Fáil Party, having not wanted to play Punch and Judy as their leader said on day one of this Dáil, are simply punch drunk. Senator Byrne cannot move five paces without gleaning a scandal around every corner. I appreciate that Senator Byrne may be in some shock as to the electoral result he experienced and I appreciate that people need some time to come to term with reality. I wish to make clear to both Senators that this Government is not mired in the moral mess of his previous colleagues. We tell the truth about these issues.