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

-----and it was only announced about a year ago and has some distance to go yet in respect of its objectives.

On the citizens’ assemblies, to respond to the point made by Deputy McDonald, I think the shared island initiative in respect of the dialogue series that is there is a far more effective way of building reconciliation and mutual trust through working with people on the ground and engaging in dialogue across-the-board on issues such as climate. A climate and biodiversity network has been created on the island together with many research networks. An all-island women’s forum has been selected. I attended a group on Monday with Community Relations in Schools, CRIS, with communities involved in education at the interface areas in Belfast from preschool to primary school and secondary school. That is the type of understanding and dialogue which we need to build up on the island and that is the approach I favour in that respect.

The next two citizens’ assemblies will be on drugs. Deputy Gannon highlighted that. That is where we intend to go.

Deputy Bacik, to whom I apologise, also referred to the need for a citizens’ assembly on agriculture and food production. I would not disagree with that entirely but drugs and education are the next two themes to which we have committed. They got the largest cross-party consensus in terms of a need for an assembly on drugs and on education. The date for the assembly, to answer Deputy Ó Murchú, should be early in the New Year.

See this speech in context