Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Chair on her new leadership role in which I am sure she will do a fine job.

It is really important that we do not rewrite history when it comes to talking about the constitutional progress being glacially slow because the previous Government was actually going to delete it. If that had gone ahead, it would be the complete opposite of what the Citizens' Assembly said. Our previous sessions found there is much clarity around what citizens were looking for from Article 41.2, which, as Senator Ruane said, is to put in care. It is to ensure that we remove the gender-based nature and put in something that recognises care. That is what the Irish people want. That is what the Citizens' Assembly found. That is, therefore, where the clarity is. I hope what will come out of this will confirm that. Every witness up until now has said that. We had much clarity from Dr. Catherine Day around what went into the decision-making.

There may be some challenges with regard to the first recommendation on Article 40.1. Some things have been highlighted by previous witnesses around how we actually ensure that we do not rewrite the Equality Acts, for instance, and then put it into the Constitution, or give preferential treatment to gender as the basis against which a person should not be discriminated. Then, what about people's other rights, such as Traveller rights and so on? That was a really important point that came from previous witnesses, which one would perhaps not know from the recommendations at first glance.

This is where we can bring something in, but it would not be the end of the road. We are not the Attorney General and, even if some members of the committee have a legal background, we do not have that kind of expertise. It is about highlighting these matters.

We asked Dr. Day for her views on how the assembly came to this conclusion. We have some clarity, which we will include in our report and will help the Department's work. I agree with the Minister that it would not be for him to make a decision prior to this committee's report, but I am interested in learning what work is ongoing. I noted the difference between the briefing document that we were given by the Department and his statement today that the Department was reviewing work. To me, this indicates progress since our initial private session.