Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Taoiseach, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the Seanad today and I want to thank Senator O'Reilly for raising this matter. The citizens' assembly is an exercise in deliberative democracy and places the citizen at the heart of important legal and policy issues facing Irish society. Citizens' assemblies operating independently of Government and reporting directly to the Houses of the Oireachtas, were first established in Ireland in 2013 when the Convention on the Constitution was set up. Since then, the assemblies have become an important part of our democratic process with previous forums deliberating on a variety of matters feeding directly into the formulation of proposals for Constitutional reform. The terms of reference for the assemblies are set by the Oireachtas. The assemblies bring together 99 randomly chosen members of the public to discuss and consider important legal and policy issues and, ultimately, to make recommendations to the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is the members of the citizens' assemblies who decide on all matters relating to its operation, including its rules and procedures, the schedule of meetings and, subject to the resolution passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas, the prioritisation of the work programme.

Assemblies operate in an open and transparent manner, with public proceedings live streamed on the assembly’s website. Each assembly also engages with the wider public, academia, civil society and stakeholders, by inviting submissions on the topic under consideration. The programme for Government, Our Shared Future, committed to establishing four citizens assemblies on the topics of biodiversity loss; the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin; drug use; and the future of education. Three of those four citizens' assemblies have now concluded their work and submitted their reports to the Oireachtas, as required under their terms of reference. The Dublin Citizens' Assembly concluded its meetings in October of 2022 and submitted its report to the Oireachtas in December 2022.The Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage published its response to the report in December 2023. The Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss concluded its meetings in January 2023 and submitted its report to the Oireachtas in March 2023. The Joint Committee on the Environment and Climate Action published its response to the report in December. The Minister and officials in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are now leading on the preparation of a whole-of-government response to the recommendations of both the Dublin Citizens' Assembly and the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, and responses will be published in due course, once they have been finalised.

The Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use concluded its meetings in October of last year and submitted its report to the Oireachtas in December. The report was published on 25 January. The Dáil and Seanad referred the report to the relevant joint committee, which has commenced its consideration of the report.

The question of establishing a citizens’ assembly on the future of education will need to be subject to a Government decision and resolutions of the Dáil and Seanad in due course. Such a citizens' assembly would cover the full spectrum of the education lifecycle, from early childhood, through primary, secondary, further and higher education to lifelong learning. Consequently, the drafting of terms of reference would seek input from several Ministers. These would include the Ministers for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Education and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.