Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 15, inclusive, together.

The current Citizens' Assembly on gender equality was established in January 2020 and, following delays caused by Covid-19, resumed its work with online meetings in October last year. The assembly adapted its methods to comply with public health guidelines. The results of the assembly's voting on key recommendations were announced on Saturday, 24 April. Its final report, which will set those recommendations in context, is expected in June. The assembly has agreed 45 priority recommendations covering a wide range of areas set out in its mandate. These include recommendations on the Constitution, politics and leadership, care-giving and childcare, domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, pay and the workplace, and social protection. The assembly's report, when finalised, will be for consideration by the Oireachtas in the first instance, and I look forward to working on the recommendations.

Under the programme for Government, the Government aims to establish a citizens' assembly in 2021 to consider the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin. This assembly will be established with a new chairperson and new members. Consideration is being given to the appropriate methodology for future citizens' assemblies, but any decisions in this regard will be guided by the experience of the current assembly. An independent researcher has been appointed to monitor and record, among other things, the perceived deliberative quality of the assembly, which will also assist in decisions on future assemblies' use of virtual meetings. I understand that the Citizens' Assembly, which commissioned the independent review, plans to publish it.

The programme for Government provides for the establishment of citizens' assemblies to consider biodiversity, matters relating to drugs use and the future of education. Officials from my Department are engaging with officials from the relevant Departments on the approach to be taken with these assemblies. It is envisaged that they will be established after the Dublin mayor Citizens' Assembly has completed its work but the specific timelines relating to each assembly have yet to be worked out. Citizens' assemblies do very valuable work in guiding policy and giving a sense of the direction that the public would like Government to take. They take time to set up, however, and run especially in these times of the pandemic. Although the timing of the citizens' assemblies outlined in the programme for Government may not yet be confirmed, there are ongoing and new initiatives being carried out in each important area, such as biodiversity, drugs, and the future of education.

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