The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, launched a sharp attack last night on criticism of his role in dealing with asylum-seekers and immigrants. Defending his position in the Dail, the Minister demanded that his critics should either "put up or shut up".
In a trenchant speech during a debate on the Human Rights Commission Bill, the Minister said that he and officials of his Department had been subjected to "wild demonisation" by people inside and outside the House.
People were making allegations based on "raw fantasy" and not facts. He said that such people should "come up front" and put up the facts and evidence. "If people can't put up, they should shut up."
At one point during his comments in the Dail late last night the Minister was interrupted while a quorum (at least 14 deputies) was called for by Fine Gael's justice spokesman, Mr Jim Higgins, whom the Minister berated for what he called a "scandalous" contribution to the debate.
Mr O'Donoghue accused Opposition deputies of putting on the record of the Dail statements about asylum-seekers which could not be substantiated. He added: "Misrepresentation, misleading nudge, wink and ulterior motive has taken over inside the House and outside."
The Minister said that he had "listened to enough nonsense in the House from the Opposition regarding the implementation of human rights".
He pointed out that the Constitution enshrined human rights and said that he planned to bring proposals before the Government for the incorporation into Irish law of the International Convention on Human Rights. He emphasised that the present Government was the first to do this.
Mr O'Donoghue said that he had brought in more human rights legislation than any other administration. Since becoming Minister for Justice three years ago, 25 Bills had been passed, while a further 13 were before the House and eight more were at an advanced stage of preparation.
He called for a "cool, calm debate" based on the facts and said: "Let's leave ulterior motives outside."
