Fiach MacConghail (Independent)

There are low price seats for the matinees. A quote from that very important play is that "to remember everything is a form of madness." I had the privilege this weekend of hosting the first ever national citizens' assembly, with more than 100 randomly selected citizens from the Twenty-Six Counties, from the age of 18 to 80, discussing political reform. It was a humbling experience for me to hear the voices and opinions of citizens on political reform. We brought in experts to discuss various issues on gender quotas, mandatory voting, the proportional representation system and Seanad reform. There was a detailed discussion.

One of the debates concerned the Seanad and we considered whether the Seanad should be abolished, reformed or be replaced by a citizens assembly. The reform issue was debated with the 2004 report instigated by Ms Mary O'Rourke. We used a proportional representation vote which eliminated the citizens assembly idea, leaving abolition and reform as two options, with reform winning out by 64% to 31%. In the discussion the citizens were unaware of the power, duty and possible reform of the Seanad.

A motion was passed by this House only two weeks ago about inviting citizens of repute to this floor to discuss issues and inform us. Has the Committee on Procedures and Privileges met since the motion was passed unanimously by the House and has it formulated a solution? I know my grouping has written to the committee with a suggestion for a name but we would like somebody before the House before we break on 27 July. Has the Leader an update on the issue?