Alan Shatter has criticised the Minister for Justice for what he says is the "watering down" of important new laws on parenthood.

The former minister says the Children and Family Relationships Bill will allow children to be used as "pawns" in custody battles. He says the bill will go soft on parents who refuse to give their former partners access to their children.

He also stated without extra legal protection, there's nothing the courts can do to help estranged parents.

This morning, he spoke to Pat Kenny about his concerns for the bill and said that he isn't criticising his successor Frances Fitzgerald or the Health Minister Leo Varadkar over new laws on adoption.

Mr Shatter says while the Bill does some great work - it leaves children born to surrogates and their parents in a legal limbo: 

Yesterday, the former justice minister lashed out at his former Cabinet colleague, Health Minister Leo Varadkar.

Deputy Shatter said Leo Varadkar is "misleading" people by suggesting he's the first minister to try and overhaul surrogacy laws.

Mr Shatter has said he wishes Mr Varadkar would “stop pretending” he’s “presenting some new crusade”.