Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

By contrast the Green Party would wish to nominate a Member to the committee but is being denied that opportunity. I ask that the terms of reference for this joint committee on child protection represent the political diversity in the Chamber to the greatest extent possible, given that we are dealing with an issue that is pertinent to the Constitution, which is the people's Constitution and is not the preserve of any select group of political nominees. I ask the Government to recognise that the membership of the committee is too narrow to reflect the degree to which it needs to deal with a matter that has constitutional implications. For that reason I oppose the membership as outlined. The Green Party asks that our spokesperson, Deputy Cuffe, be allowed serve on the committee given that he has been involved in the debate and in trying to resolve the difficulties to date.

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