Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the representatives. They are very welcome here today. All of the presentations were just fantastic. As I listened to all of the presentations today, a part of me wishes that the participants were sitting around the table in Government buildings talking to, discussing with, and advising our Government.

The first thing I will say is that Ms Anderson is an inspiration. She has come through so much in her life. It is a travesty that such a young person would have had to go through all of that. Yet, look at where she is today and the strength and resilience it has given to her. Now Ms Anderson is giving back and she is truly an absolute inspiration. I totally heard everything that Ms Anderson has said here today.

Mr. Taylor and Mr. Taylor-Clarke both spoke about education and integrated education. Mr. Taylor referred to equality, service, respect and dignity. They are powerful words. If we could all live by those four words life would be just so much easier. Mr. Taylor also said that fewer than 10% of people have access to integrated schools. This is horrific and very sad to think about. Reference was made to the overall will and funding being there. It really struck me when Mr. Taylor spoke about building bridges and agreeing to disagree. This is so powerful. It is about listening to each other, feeling what other people are saying, agreeing to disagree, but seeing how we can continue to work together.

If Mr. Taylor and Mr. Taylor-Clarke had a magic wand how would they see it working? What would they like to do to try to make it work? What advice would they give to the Government to say "This is what you should do"? Will Mr. Taylor and Mr. Taylor-Clarke give us four bullet points on how they think we could do it?

I totally and 100% agree with Mr. Quigley that it is all about planning and preparing properly, and particularly how we plan and prepare around housing, the economy and health. These are absolutely vital issues in going forward. What does Mr. Quigley think of the idea of a citizens' assembly on those issues? How would he see that working?