Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 7 February 2019
Public Accounts Committee
2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 1 - President's Establishment
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach
9:00 am
Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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With regard to the Citizens' Assembly, the outturn was less than the estimate, so, obviously, there was some flexibility. That went on almost every weekend over 12 months and it was a forerunner to a number of successful referenda. I remember the first and second divorce referenda. Had we had something like the Citizens' Assembly in advance, we may well have ended up saving money by virtue of the fact we were spending on a useful initiative. I was on the Constitutional Convention, which was a forerunner to the Citizens' Assembly, and a number of referenda will happen as a consequence of that.
This is an historical figure. I presume it is because it is set up under the Department of the Taoiseach that this happens.