John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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My questions for Mr. Murphy are on the citizens' assembly. I accept he may not be able to answer them but, perhaps, it will be possible to get written responses from Ms Harmon at some stage in the future. I will go ahead with my questions on Ms Harmon's statement, which Mr. Murphy read out. What is his view on the citizens' assembly? Should it include politicians or only ordinary citizens? Both were mentioned. Previous citizens' assemblies in Ireland, on repeal and marriage equality, were made up of ordinary citizens. Is that better than including politicians in them? What is Mr. Murphy's view on that?

On funding, what type and amount of funding would need to be set aside to make a citizens' assembly meaningful and to get a bang for our buck? What type of finance do we need to put behind it? In terms of the practical arrangements, points a) to e) in the opening statement provided by Ireland's Future refer to how it must be a project led and initiated by the Irish Government. That is fair enough because the possibility of a joint Irish-British constitutional convention modelling reunification is unlikely. What will be the make-up of this citizens' assembly? Will it just be a bunch of people from the Republic of Ireland discussing the issues? How do we get engagement from the Northern Ireland institutions? If they are not willing to engage, do we just go ahead with a South-Republic of Ireland-centred citizens' assembly? Can we get more detail on its make-up and how we would proceed with that? What role do the Northern Ireland institutions, if any, have to play in a future citizens' assembly?