Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was a member of the Constitutional Convention and, therefore, I know how the system works. It can be effective and efficient. The effectiveness and efficiency of the convention was primarily attributable to the fact that it was representative of Irish society, accounting for gender, age, rural and urban considerations, job, profession and the unemployed. There was an excellent chairman in Mr. Tom Arnold, who was fair and impartial in ensuring all voices were heard. There was also a very efficient secretariat. There were facilitators who ensured nobody was allowed to dominate the round-table discussions. We had a range of experts brought in to give their opinions. The politicians and citizens complemented one another and the process was very much mutually beneficial. We have the groundwork done and an example of how to do this right. It is vital that the assembly have an independent chairman who is experienced and respected and that it have the secretariat, funding and resources of the kind we had at the Constitutional Convention. There was a small committee that worked with the chairman of the convention. It comprised the politicians and citizens who made the suggestions and recommendations. It accepted submissions. Everybody could not be heard but the convention ensured that there was fair representation of voices and we had international input on occasion.

The proposed assembly, albeit a citizens’ assembly, should have been envisaged like the Constitutional Convention. It is rather ironic that when the latter was first proposed, I believed politicians should not be members thereof and that only citizens should be involved. Now, because it worked so well, I am of the opinion it is better to have both.

The current census results must be taken into account in the making of the random selection. I felt the under-25 age group was somewhat under-represented at the convention given our young population. The problem is our electoral system because we know it is not accurate. The citizens have to be representative of all the socio-economic groups.

I am disappointed over the proposal regarding the timeframes. The Government needs to re-examine that. The assembly should report and make recommendations as soon as the deliberations are made. I do not know why a deadline of "not later than a year" was chosen. We need a much tighter timeframe, within which the Government will hold the referendum.

I would have liked to have seen other topics proposed, including that raised by the Green Party in respect of climate change. I hope the assembly is not an exercise in kicking to touch issues that have to be dealt with. Since the Constitutional Convention worked so well, I am hopeful about this assembly.

See this speech in context