Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is what I mean; around a timeframe. However, this annoyance pales into insignificance compared to the annoyance and frustration felt by women outside and inside this building. We have been speaking about Article 41.2 for longer than I have been alive. It was the biggest single policy issue at the time the Constitution was being drafted so this is not a new issue. I agree with the Taoiseach, however, that it is complex and there are a number of different aspects to it. Simplicity may very well be the answer.

However, given the complexity and length of time for which this has been going on, would the Taoiseach consider a cross-departmental document similar to that containing the third strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence or something similar to a Housing for All pathway that would lay down key performance indicators and give a documented progression rate in achieving the recommendations made by the citizens' assembly. We need more than statements in the Dáil on this matter. We have had statements on the citizens' assembly recommendations last year. What we now need to see is documented, transparent progress. It is not good enough that when we finish this work, Members of the Oireachtas will be reliant on parliamentary questions to seek an update. That is not transparency. Any member of the public should be able to get access to the information. The commitment is in the programme for Government and has been in other programmes, but we need to provide accountability, timelines and clear deliverables when it comes to gender equality. Citizens deserve no less than that.

I have a second question for the Taoiseach. It relates to the citizens' assembly model. Earlier this year, Professor David Farrell warned that the high-profile successes of the repeal and marriage equality referendums disguise the fact that many recommendations of previous assemblies have been ignored, rejected or left to gather dust, thus wasting time and effort, not least that of citizens' assembly members, and wasting public funding for very little return. He describes the evolved assembly model as sub-optimal, very top-down, very managerial, tightly controlled by civil servants and a Government-appointed chair, running the risk of stifling innovation. Does the Taoiseach share Professor Farrell's concern regarding State stifling of citizens' assembly recommendations and the failure to advance those within a meaningful timeframe?