Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House for this debate on citizens' assemblies. I have no difficulty with the Government's proposals in general and I support them. I will focus on my amendment because I want to seek more representation from the local representatives of the Minister of State's party, Fine Gael, Independents and those from other parties and none.

The Government is proposing that 12 councillors will be part of the assembly, with the selection process as random or not prescribed. We can take a little journey around the area. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council have 40 members. Dublin City Council has 63 members.In total, between the four local authorities in Dublin, there are 183 elected members of local government. That is important. The Minister of State is proposing that there be 80 members on the assembly. I am simply suggesting we increase that number by 12, to bring it to 92 members. The logic of that is that he is proposing 12 councillors but I am proposing 24 because I want there to be representation. Some groups are smaller and are minorities, while others are bigger groups. I happen to be close to all groupings and there are a substantial number of Independents among them. No one should be put at a disadvantage, as may be the case for members of smaller parties.

I am disappointed the motion does not refer to the d'Hondt system or gender balance. On one hand we have people talking about being part of women's groups or advocating for them in terms of gender balance, and rightly so, yet somehow this legislation is silent on gender balance and proportionality. That is an issue of concern to me and many of the Dublin city and county councillors.

I have engaged comprehensively with many groups across Dublin city and county. After all, the motion has been amended. It is the second motion in respect of this matter. It was changed on the understanding that there were some concerns. It was right to revisit it. I am simply suggesting that the number be increased by 12. My amendment proposes, "a Citizens’ Assembly, to be known as the Dublin Citizens’ Assembly, with a total of 92 members, including an independent Chairperson, 67 randomly-selected members of the public living in Dublin City and County". It changes only a few words of the motion. I am suggesting there be 24 councillors rather than 12, as proposed by the Minister of State. The amendment continues that those councillors should be, "selected from across the four local authorities using the d’Hondt system, while being mindful of the need for gender balance, to consider the type of local government structures best suited for Dublin". I have no problem with any of this. My simple concern is that we need to widen it out. My amendment would give each of the four local authorities six members.

The Minister of State has not set out how the councillors will be selected. Will there be more or fewer from each of Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin County Council and Fingal County Council? That is not prescribed in the motion. I know the Minister of State wants to keep it flexible and his hand slightly removed from it. I respect and understand what he is attempting to do. I want to be supportive and constructive but I also want to bring the voice of city and county councillors from across that spectrum of four councils. I do so by suggesting a simple measure that would increase the representation from 12 to 24 councillors to give a greater opportunity for participation and ensure we have that gender balance opportunity. I do not think the increase I have proposed is unreasonable. The total number of members would still be below 100. It would be manageable. We have had very successful citizens' assemblies with approximately 100 members. I do not think it is too much to ask for if we are going to be consistent about how we advocate for gender balance, the d'Hondt system and fair play for all the political groups. All these city and county councillors have a mandate having been democratically elected. They represent communities. They have gone to the electorate and got votes. I refer to the diversity, talent and skills of city and county councillors across the spectrum in Dublin. They will bring meaningful engagement to the process. They will not dominate the process but, rather, will engage with it.

I make my case to the Senators who are present to please join with me in supporting this reasonable ask. I am seeking to increase the representation of city and county councillors from 12 to 24 and to allow for a d'Hondt system to be in place, which represents fairness in the system, and to address the issue of gender balance on which we have all spoken. I do not think anyone should be against the amendment. I cannot understand why anyone would be against it, other than possibly due to the party whip system. The Minister of State has to do what he has to do. I know where he is coming from. I just want to make that case. I hope I can get support for the amendment.