Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish Senator Norris a speedy recovery and hope he will return to this Chamber soon. We miss his wit when he is not here. On a more sad note, I was previously a constituency colleague of Deputy Shatter in Dublin South prior to my transfer to Dublin South-West. I pay tribute to the Deputy for the work he has done and the way he supported me in the constituency. Every question I submitted to his office was speedily answered. I also pay tribute to the staff of his office, who are often forgotten. I wish Deputy Shatter, his wife, Carol, and their two children well.
The Deputy was well described by a headline in today's edition of The Irish Times, which stated: "Minister Shatter: a polarising reformer who leaves a long legacy on the statute books". Nobody can argue with that assessment because in his three short years in office, he produced a long list of legislation. A number of speakers have referred to the Children's Court and the reforms to family law. The reductions he made to judicial salaries did him no favours with the Judiciary. He made courts easier to access and introduced reforms to the citizenship process and the prison system, including ending the practice of slopping out. We were all proud of the solution to the Magdalen laundries issue, which he brought through the Houses. He is a socialising reformer with a liberal agenda. He leaves a significant legacy that will stand the test of time. His other initiatives include the new Court of Appeal, the personal insolvency system, the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill 2013, which we were due to debate today, the reform of legal services and the criminalisation of human trafficking.
I was speaking on the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Bill 2013 in the context of a Labour Party Private Members' motion on disability services when the news came through of his resignation. That Bill was delayed since July 2013 for the simple reason that Deputy Shatter wanted to ensure that it was in sync with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is an important Bill for people with mental and physical disabilities. He wanted to ensure he could get the legislation right.
The new Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, also has developed a strong track record in her previous office as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. She is a woman who is well able to take over her new portfolio and I have full confidence in her. I wish her the best and also wish that strong man behind her, Deputy Charles Flanagan, who has been a popular and courageous chairman of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, well. I am delighted that the acting Garda Commissioner, the Attorney General, the DPP and the Minister for Justice and Equality are women. I wish them all well. I also wish the good men behind them well. We cannot have one without the other.