Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator is being unfair to citizens. This is a citizens' assembly, and it will not stop Senator McDowell or any other Member from discussing the same issues. The assembly will be brought together. Most people would accept that the convention process worked and got results. Senator McDowell might not like it, but other people did. This is not all about him. He is being unfair. It is his strong view that we do not need a fixed-term Parliament. I might share his view, but this is not about him or me. This is a citizens' assembly in which they can give their views. There is nothing wrong with that. There is no harm in having an assembly. I am not sure as to why he is so set against it, and it is fair enough that he is, but plenty of time can be arranged by the Houses to discuss the issues in question and feed those discussions into the Government.

Senator Bacik stated that the Constitutional Convention originally had a two-month timeframe. The issues were probably not as complex. The first session was on lowering the voting age and shortening the term of President. I am glad that the convention did not decide to do the latter, because we have a great President. We set aside two months, but that deadline was not met; it took four months, given that the session occurred over the Christmas period. The convention first met in December and its first report arrived in March. This is a complex issue and there are reasons for it. I will address the motion directly in that regard.

I was asked whether the chairperson would be independent. The Taoiseach has made it clear that he will consult and try to achieve the agreement of all Members on this point. Hopefully, we will find a chairperson who is independent, but I accept the Senator's concern about a chairperson rolling in and taking control. It happens in other environments, but I assume that the assembly's 99 other members will not let it happen in this case. I cannot guarantee it, but if I were picked and spent my weekends travelling to attend a citizens' assembly, I would not let the chairperson dictate to me. I would not do that in any part of my life and I presume that the Senator would not either. I hope that the 99 people will be strong willed and will not be dictated to by the chairperson. A good chair facilitates debate and brings everyone on board. The convention had a good chair.

Senator Ruane asked about the expert advice and who would or would not be picked. The assembly will be totally independent of the Government.We will not tell it who it can or cannot consult as experts. The chair, along with the 99 members of the assembly, will decide what expertise they need and whether they need to bring in former Attorneys General who are now Senators to give them advice. That will be their choice. They can bring in anyone they want for advice, opinion and direction and there will be a budget provided for this. It will be open to anybody to communicate with the assembly and make submissions, and the assembly can invite in groups to make submissions. It will be a similar process to that for the Constitutional Convention. There is no diktat on who the experts will be or regarding what side they will be on. I hope this is helpful.

With regard to amendment No. 1, I appreciate that Senator Higgins and others wish to have the report of the citizens' assembly on the eighth amendment as soon as possible and have the subsequent Oireachtas committee conclude and send its report to the House within a short timeframe. We do not think it is a good idea to put these time limit requirements into the resolution. The assembly has not yet been established and the eighth amendment is not a simple issue, as I stated earlier. Other issues are more simple to approach. This can be quite complicated. While one might say the majority want it removed, there does not seem to be consensus on what should or should not go in and there is much to be teased out. This is why there is no time limit. It is the Senator's opinion that it is not complicated, but others find it complicated and think it might need-----