Wallace: ‘Do you think that people are stupid?’

Opposition party TDs have asked is Justice Minister Alan Shatter thinks that “people are stupid” and said he is no longer “fit for office” after a series of excuses over the whistleblower affair.

In a day of high drama at Leinster House, Sinn Féin, Socialist Party, and Independent TDs effectively joined forces in a bid to push Mr Shatter out of power.

Telling Mr Shatter “I will miss you when you’re gone”, Independent TD Mick Wallace — who has been at the forefront of the penalty points scandal — said the reality is that the justice minister has nowhere left to turn.

Listing out 38 separate reasons why Mr Shatter should resign, he said the minister had caused his own problems.

Mr Wallace said Mr Shatter has been “weak, ineffective, and indecisive” over the controversy, including when he claimed during a previous Dáil debate that he could not comment on now-retired Garda commissioner Martin Callinan’s description of whistleblowers as “disgusting” because he had not seen the transcript of the committee when it was said.

“Do you think the people are stupid, minister? I find you a very able man and very intelligent, but I’m sorry to say you don’t look fit for office,” Mr Wallace said. “I’ll be dead honest with you, I’ll miss you when you’re gone.”

The comment was repeated by Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins, who suggested the only reason Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Finance Minister Michael Noonan were sitting beside Mr Shatter as he apologised to the whistleblowers was because he could not be trusted to say “the most difficult word in his extensive vocabulary — sorry”.

Sinn Féin TD Mary Lou McDonald said she still does not believe that Mr Shatter understands why the penalty points issue has sparked such outrage.

Telling him that “if you really believed in accountability you would be stepping down from your position in Cabinet”, Ms McDonald said garda whistleblowers Maurice McCabe and John Wilson “not only deserve an apology, they deserve a commendation”.

Fianna Fáil TD Colm Keaveney, who only recently joined the party after a high-profile falling out with Labour, added a touch of flair to proceedings, saying that considering Mr Shatter’s highly intelligent reputation, it was ironic his current position bore the hallmarks of a key figure in Greek tragedy.

The former government backbencher said the past 48 hours, which he described as “the most extraordinary in my time in politics”, reminded him of the ancient Greek character Nemesis, who inflicted retribution on people who fell foul of arrogance and extreme self-confidence.

Noting that the characteristics are regularly associated with Mr Shatter, Mr Keaveney said his personality and failure to accept his part in the crisis until now may soon be the reason for his own downfall.