Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

Thank you. Obviously, there are issues around financial and resource commitments. I heard today that all eight meetings of the convention will be held in Dublin, which will not help in terms of encouraging people to attend the process. This issue will also need to be addressed.

On the rights issue, I share the concerns of Amnesty and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties that issues such as economic, social and cultural rights are not being directly addressed. We are a leading voice on human rights issues in the developing world. We are a supporter of the millennium development goals and a voice for rights in developing countries in respect of women, land, property, education and culture. We need to address that here. The Good Friday Agreement and so on are included for consideration. I presume the Weston Park Accord will also be included. However, prisoners with particular human rights issues in Northern Ireland are being ignored, which, too, must be addressed.

The review of the White Paper on Irish Aid was a prototype for the way forward in terms of its providing space for written submissions and the holding of open forum throughout the country, chaired by former Deputy Nora Owens, which allowed people to give their opinions and have their voices heard. It was a progressive process which could have been used in respect of the constitutional convention. The bottom line is to empower people. While I hope it does this, it is open to criticism.

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