Penalty points fiasco - Minister’s response is an affront

Sometimes you have to pinch yourself, take a deep breath and listen carefully to be sure that you heard what you thought you heard.

Sometimes you have to pause and reorientate yourself to confirm that you were listening to adults, some politicians, one a minister, articulating their reality. Sometimes you must step back to assess something through the prism of realpolitik and try to see the bigger picture and try to be fair and understanding. Sometimes, even if you do all of that, you remain confounded, wondering if you were listening to political debate or one of the more hallucinogenic scenes from Darby O’Gill and the Little People.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s response to a perfectly legitimate question on the penalty points row is unfortunately such a moment. Asked if he thought that he had what should be confidential information that allowed him accuse Deputy Mick Wallace of benefiting from the flexibility around penalty points was, for him, a resigning matter he responded by asking the journalist if the question “was a joke”.