Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was sceptical at the beginning of the Constitutional Convention but it was breathtaking. Cynicism does not do any good. I accept Senator McDowell's fundamental point that it is us and the people who will decide and that will be the final part of the process. Nothing will change that, but if we want to have broader participation in how our country is run and governed, then this is a welcome initiative. The Constitutional Convention served us well and this assembly will too. Ultimately, the people will make the decision. The debate we had earlier in no way changes what is happening here. This is about a polling company being given access to the electoral record to pick people.

I ask Members to read the Irish Council for Civil Liberties blueprint for a citizens' assembly document. It is a good one. It calls for the assembly to be resourced, to have a structure and composition, access to information and expertise and to have a clear programme of work. One of the most important paragraphs in the ICCL's document which I read prior to today is that participants should also have access to experts, including practitioners from other countries, who can provide insight into models of international best practice and experience from other comparable jurisidictions of engaging with the issues being considered by the assembly. The last point it makes in that paragraph goes back to the mechanism of selection in terms of the experts - this holds equally for the citizen member - which should be transparent, open to scrutiny and verifiably independent. I have no argument with that. I know that some people are sceptical and had a viewpoint on the Constitutional Convention but I would go back to the citizen members who were beyond reproach. They researched, participated, changed their minds in some cases - not once or twice - and they engaged. People like David Farrell who have written on this should be listened to.

Senator McDowell referenced the cost factor but we could use that argument to do nothing about many matters in terms of costs.A commitment has been given to the effect that the assembly will be established. I am of the view that the assembly should be resourced. I passionately believe that the previous model worked. In hindsight, we should not have changed it but we have done so and that is the Government's decision. Let us not start the process by being cynical. Let us allow the assembly to be resourced adequately in order that it might carry out its work in a timely and efficient manner and let us put in place a timeline from Government to respond to its findings. Some people have missed the point that the Government, as is its prerogative, was not obliged to accept the recommendations made by the Constitutional Convention. That will also be the case with the assembly. Ultimately, it is the Houses of the Oireachtas and the people who will decide on any recommendations put to them.