Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator McDowell that there is a need for transparency on the selection process. I do not subscribe to the theory that it will come down to self-selection or that the selection process is open to manipulations being put forward by others. I refer to my experience of the Constitutional Convention. I found it hard to listen to the contribution of Senator Ó Domhnaill, whom I like, because Fianna Fáil did not participate in the debate. That party wanted to have a judge-led commission which would involve a much longer period than the assembly being put forward. This is not about the eighth amendment, and that is the point. The establishment of the citizens' assembly was part of the programme for Government discussions, which the Senator's party facilitated in the formation of a Government. We need a representative, fair and balanced citizen selection process. Senator Mullen and I may have disagreed on certain aspects of the Constitutional Convention but the one matter on which we should agree is the genuineness of the participants at that convention and the-----