Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann:

Approves the calling of two Citizens’ Assemblies to consider the following matters and to make such recommendations as it sees fit and report to the Houses of the Oireachtas:

(1) a Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, with a total of 100 members, including an independent Chairperson and 99 randomly-selected members of the public, to examine how the State can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss, and to bring forward the threats presented by biodiversity loss and the opportunities to reverse this loss; - the main drivers of biodiversity loss, their impacts and the opportunity of addressing these drivers;

- the perspectives of the general public, representative groups, advocacy groups, experts and policy makers

on biodiversity loss, and its impact on Ireland;

- opportunities to develop greater policy coherence and strategic synergies between biodiversity policy and other policy priorities including, but not limited to, economic development, climate action, sustainable development, agriculture and tourism;

- opportunities to promote greater public understanding of, and support for, urgent action in response to the biodiversity emergency; and

- opportunities to improve the State’s response to the challenge of biodiversity loss, how that response can best be resourced and implemented in a strategic and coordinated manner, and how progress can be measured; (2) a Citizens’ Assembly, to be known as the Dublin Citizens’ Assembly, with a total of 80 members, including an independent Chairperson, 67 randomly-selected members of the public living in Dublin City and County, and 12 Councillors selected from across the four local authorities, to consider the type of directly elected mayor and local government proposals in that regard. The Assembly shall consider,inter alia: - the international, European, national, regional and local dimensions to the biodiversity emergency; structures best suited for Dublin, and to bring forward proposals in that regard; the Assembly shall consider, inter alia:

- the strengths and weaknesses of the current model of local government in Dublin;

- the potential benefits, risks, challenges and opportunities associated with a directly elected Mayor for Dublin;

- what functions could be transferred from central government to regional or local government in Dublin, and how this should be funded;

- the appropriate structure for local and regional government, councils and authorities, looking at models in other capital cities (e.g. a single elected Dublin authority with a mayor and no local councils, a two-tier structure like London or Paris with a mayor, regional assembly and local or borough councils, or a mayoral structure like Greater Manchester with a ‘super’ mayor sitting above the existing local authorities); and

- the perspectives of the general public, representative groups, advocacy groups, the sitting councillors of the 4 local authorities, the Dublin Teachtaí Dálaand Members of the European Parliament, local authority senior officials and staff, experts and policy makers;and notes that the Assemblies shall:

- commence and run in parallel;

- hold their inaugural meetings in April 2022;

- adopt work programmes designed to allow for the completion of consideration of the topics within an eight-month period;

- conclude their work and submit their Reports ideally no later than nine months from their respective dates of commencement, and sooner if possible;

- have authority to determine a revised timeline for completion in the event of unexpected disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic or other extraordinary circumstances;

- implement continuous improvement and adopt innovative working methods informed by learnings from previous Citizens’ Assemblies and international best practice, including in relation to the methodology for member recruitment, to the running of Assemblies subject to public

health measures, and to developing internal capacity to ensure the quality of the deliberative process;

- preclude from membership of the Assemblies any individual who is either:

(i) a politician currently serving in either House of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament;

(ii) a lobbyist as provided for under the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015; or

(iii) a person unwilling to commit to adhering to public health measures as prescribed by Government and public health authorities from time to time;

- have separate Chairpersons appointed to each Assembly, each for a period of up to twelve months, with scope to extend the term should circumstances warrant, and that an honorarium should be paid to each Chairperson based on a per diemrate to be sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform;

- make payment of a nominal honorarium to Assembly members to recognise their civic commitment;

- have staff assigned to provide a Secretariat to the Assemblies and to support the Chairpersons;

- agree their own rules of procedure and work programmes to enable the effective conduct of their business in as economical and efficient a manner as possible;

- determine all issues by a majority of the votes of members present and voting, other than the Chairperson who will have a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes;

- operate in an open and transparent manner, including by live streaming public proceedings; and

- make a report and recommendation(s) to the Houses of the Oireachtas on the matters before them; on receipt, the Houses of the Oireachtas will refer each report for consideration to a relevant Committee of both Houses; the Committees will, in turn, bring their conclusions to the Houses of the Oireachtas for debate; furthermore, the Government will provide in the Houses of the Oireachtas a response to each recommendation of the Assemblies and, if accepting some or all of the recommendations, will indicate the timeframe it envisages for implementing those recommendations.