Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I support the proposal to extend the time to give the Citizens' Assembly what it has asked for. It would be disrespectful to do anything other than that given its members have given up their time and there has been a great deal of preparation for the final piece of work they have to do. I also thank them for the work they have done and for giving their time freely and listening to all sides on the particular aspects they were asked to deal with.

I was a member of the constitutional convention. It is onerous to spend a weekend every month dealing with issues and listening intently to all sides. The only criticism I have of that process is that the reports were not followed through on. It was a worthwhile exercise in advance of the all-party Oireachtas committee.

There is nothing contrived about an all-party Oireachtas committee. It represents the shades of opinion in the House. I resent the label that has been put on it that it is in some way contrived. It is no such thing. It is made up of elected Members of the House who were nominated by their various groups. That is exactly what it was. Had the Citizen's Assembly delivered a result that Deputy McGrath liked, he would have had no problem with it.

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