Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I had better correct the record from yesterday morning when I said "it appears that the Minister, Deputy Shatter, has taken on some of the Teflon left behind by Bertie". It is quite clear from this morning that Bertie is still ahead in the Teflon stakes.

On a personal level and as my party's justice spokesperson, I thank Deputy Shatter for the work he has done as Minister. We did not agree on everything but we agreed on a fair number of issues and we were always civil. There was never any doubt about his work rate, intellectual ability and knowledge of his brief. I wish him well. I welcome the appointment of Deputy Fitzgerald as Minister for Justice and Equality and hope that she will champion the issue of direct provision. I also wish Deputy Charles Flanagan well in his new role as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

It is clear that Deputy Shatter presided over a number of debacles as Minister, however. As late as one hour before his resignation was announced yesterday, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and other Ministers were rallying to his defence. I contend that his resignation is a party political head on a plate in response to the hammering that Fine Gael and the Labour Party are getting at the doors in the run-up to the local elections because they hope this will persuade people to vote for them. I do not think that is going to happen because Fine Gael and the Labour Party were complicit in the controversies over which Deputy Shatter presided. We will study the reports in due course and I will welcome the opportunity to debate them in these Houses. Government Members backed the Deputy in all of these issues every time they were debated in the Houses. He was not alone in the GSOC and other controversies. We need a full explanation on these controversies and a debate on the Government's plans for dealing with them. I do not think this issue will go away with the resignation of Deputy Shatter because we need to examine the reasons the Government stood fully behind the decisions he made in regard to the Garda Commissioner, the whistleblowers and the GSOC controversy. We can have that debate with the new Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, when she is available.