The former justice minister Alan Shatter has lashed out at his former Cabinet colleague, Health Minister Leo Varadkar.

Deputy Shatter says 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”.

Minister Varadkar this morning announced he is planning an overhaul of the law to recognise the genetic parents of children born to surrogates. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast he said “there will be a court process to allow the parentage be transferred to the genetic parents or commissioning parents, if everybody agrees that's what they want."

However, Alan Shatter says he was planning to include it in the Children and Family Relationships bill - and he can't understand why it's been removed.

“I wish he would stop pretending that he is presenting some new crusade to address an issue that no one before he came along was interested in addressing

“It’s misleading and it’s unfair to members of the media and those interviewing him who do not have the intimacy of knowledge of both the bill that was published last January and of this legislation,” he added.