The Justice Minister has taken a swipe at her predecessor Alan Shatter, saying Ireland isn't ready to pass laws on surrogacy.

Deputy Shatter yesterday lashed out at the removal of surrogacy laws from the Children and Family Relationships Bill, which he helped to draft when he was minister.

But his successor Frances Fitzgerald says there hasn't been enough preparation work on regulating surrogacy in Ireland.

She says there are issues which haven't yet been sorted out, and which need further time to get right.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly reports: