Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Indeed.

Senator Fidelma Healy Eames referred to random homeowners being chosen and asked if this could be arranged within the applications process. I was at the Constitutional Convention and the Senator was right in that the health forum did not achieve a great deal, but the convention was a fine example of participative and deliberative democracy. Working on that principle, not alone the forum but also the concept within it of participative and deliberative democracy represent a good move forward. The European Union is taking a close look at how Constitutional Convention worked to try to emulate it.

While, as a general principle, the amendment is useful for debating purposes, it would not be inclusive; rather, it would be exclusive. For that reasosn I could not give it my full support.