Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, has outlined the Fianna Fáil position on this Bill. I do not propose to repeat the reasons he has given but I will make some general points.

I acknowledge that the citizens' assembly model has been used previously with the Constitutional Convention. There are a number of changes in this new model which I believe are regrettable, in particular the absence of political representation and the North-South dimension. I imagine any demographic of 100 people would quite possibly include some type of political representation, for example, councillors from within an area, and not necessarily Deputies or Senators. It is wrong to exclude them. However, these changes are not enough to justify absolutely opposing it.

It is fair to say that the previous convention was undermined by the lack of Government action in the area. Several reports were neglected and remain untouched. The assembly should not be reduced to the role of a talking shop because the issues involved are far too important. Furthermore, the convention should not be used as a replacement for the people's Chamber. In my view, Dáil Éireann is absolutely the people's Chamber. This is where we represent people's views and opinions. I have no doubt that each of the 158 Deputies get the opinions and feelings of people on all these important issues daily and weekly. We have to be the primary focus in respect of this. Ultimately, the Dáil must wrestle with the key constitutional issues before a referendum and this is where it should happen. The mechanism should not be allowed to become a first choice of any government but rather an occasional infrequent tool for specific issues.

The key issue is the eighth amendment. My party, Fianna Fáil, is operating a freedom of conscience vote on this most contentious issue before the assembly. We were the first party to do so and we absolutely recognise the depth of the issues involved. I believe we should proceed straight to a referendum as opposed to having to wait for a citizens' assembly. The original proposal from Fianna Fáil was for a judge-led commission to confront the issue from an independent perspective. The way the other issues are being dealt with smacks of an afterthought rather than giving those issues serious consideration. Again, this should not be the case. However, we are willing to help to build a consensus approach to the issue and we will abstain on the Government proposals rather than oppose them. The Fianna Fáil Party will work to ensure these issues are dealt with through free and fair debate.

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