Speech by the Taoiseach Mr Enda Kenny TD on the nomination of member of Government

Ceann Comhairle,

I wish to advise the House that the President, acting on my advice, yesterday accepted the resignation of Deputy Alan Shatter as a member of the Government.

Following this, and pursuant to Section 4(1) of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1946, I yesterday assigned the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Defence to myself.

I now move:

That Dáil Éireann approve the nomination by the Taoiseach of Deputy Charlie Flanagan for appointment by the Commission, constituted as provided for in Section 2 of Article 14 of the Constitution, to be a member of the Government.

I also wish to inform the House that, following his appointment, I intend to assign the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to Deputy Flanagan.

I also intend to assign responsibility for the Department of Justice and Equality to Minister Frances Fitzgerald. It is also my intention to reorganise responsibility for the Department of Defence. Pending those changes, I am assigning responsibility for the Department of Defence to my own Department on a temporary basis.

As a vastly experienced member of the House, Charlie Flanagan is eminently qualified to continue the hugely important work of this Government in the area of the welfare and protection of children.

Deputy Flanagan has represented the people of Laois Offaly in the House for 22 years. During this time, he has served with distinction, and has held several important responsibilities as opposition spokesperson, including as Fine Gael spokesperson on Children.

I commend his name to the House and look forward to his contribution as a member of the Government.

As the State’s first Cabinet level Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, had inherited a system that was failing to adequately protect our young people. In just three years, she has transformed the constitutional, legislative and administrative systems to make the welfare and protection of children the top priority.

She has overseen a constitutional referendum on children’s rights; the enactment of the Children First guidelines on a statutory basis; and the creation of the Child and Family Agency.

I know that she will bring the same energy, commitment and reforming zeal to her new role as Minister for Justice and Equality.

I would like to take this opportunity to again thank Deputy Alan Shatter for his work as minister. During his three years as minister, he implemented huge reform right across his areas of responsibility, from the creation of the personal insolvency system, to the referendum on a court of appeal to the reform of the legal profession.

His work in opposition on private members legislation will also leave a great legacy on the statute books.

One relatively minor reform that really stuck a chord with many people was the way in which new Irish citizens are confirmed. When Alan Shatter took office, he inherited a degrading system in which people had to make their declarations before sittings of the District Court. He personally changed that system to create proper, dignified ceremonies in which our new citizens can be confirmed in a dignified and appropriate setting, in the presence of their families.

I have met many new citizens who have been deeply moved by the dignity of the new process. I wish Deputy Shatter and his family well for the future.

Remaining challenges in justice

While acutely aware of recent crises that have shaken An Garda Siochana, I want to acknowledge the successes that An Garda Síochána achieved at a time of financial constraint.

• The most recent CSO figures show reductions in 11 out of the 14 categories for which figures are given, and an overall reduction in crime of 6.6%

Restoring confidence and integrity to the Irish justice system now becomes the number one priority for the new Minister.

As Head of Government, I want transparency and accountability in our public service. It goes to the heart of what we all seek to achieve here in this House daily in representing the Irish people.

In pursing this aim,

• This government is committed to the establishment of an independent Garda Authority. It is hoped that the new Minister will seek written submissions from the public on the structure and remit of the proposed Garda Authority by end of May, and following receipt of these submissions to organise hearings before the summer break.
• In addition, the Oireachtas Committee on Justice will commence hearings next Wednesday on its Review of the legislation with regard to the oversight of An Garda Siochana under the 2005 Act. The Government looks forward to receiving its report.

A Cheann Comhairle, we should never lose sight of this Government’s top priority.

I was again given a reminder of that mission when I visited Collinstown Community College in Clondalkin this morning.

There I had the opportunity to meet recent school leavers and those soon to take their first steps into the world of work. Since becoming young adults they have never known an Ireland where jobs were plentiful, where people planned for the future with confidence and hope, where their friends didn’t automatically look to foreign horizons for new opportunities.

In the three years before we took office, Fianna Fail’s record was the destruction of 1,700 jobs every week.

Today, the private sector is now creating over 1,200 new jobs every week.

Each job created is another small step on Ireland’s road to recovery.

I fully realise we are not there yet. There are still too many people out of work, still too few opportunities for our young people to shine and progress.

We have a plan. It is working.

I commend Deputy Flanagan’s appointment to the house.