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Citizens' Assembly

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020

Thursday, 30 July 2020

Questions (5)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Question:

5. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the proposed citizens' assembly on education; the terms of reference for the assembly; when it is due to meet; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19319/20]

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Oral answers (6 contributions)

There is a commitment in the programme for Government to establish citizens' assemblies, including one on drugs and on education, which I believe is restricted to primary and secondary education. I seek further detail on this commitment, including when will this be established, its terms of reference and the timescale for its sittings.

I am particularly pleased to see the inclusion of a citizens' assembly on the future of education in the programme for Government. Experience internationally and here at home of citizens' assemblies as exercises in deliberative democracy have been extremely positive. Ireland is considered a leader in the use of deliberative democracy processes, having convened three in recent years, namely the Convention on the Constitution 2012 to 2014, the Citizens’ Assembly 2016 to 2018 and the ongoing Citizens' Assembly on gender equality which commenced in 2019. The first two exercises led to referendums being held on four issues, namely, reducing the age threshold for presidential candidates, marriage equality, removal of the offence of blasphemy and the eighth amendment.

Typically, citizens' assemblies have been established by individual Oireachtas resolutions which have set out their terms of reference. I understand that initial proposals to hold a citizens' assembly on education have been informed by proposals from the Burren College of Art, which called for the assembly to examine issues such as how to properly position post-primary education for the 21st century and how to encourage greater creativity, student agency and resilience. My three-year strategy and annual implementation plan will incorporate priority actions from the programme for Government, including the citizens' assembly on the future of education. I aim to publish this strategy later this year.

Some of the reservations people in education have about the Minister's appointment do not relate to any lack of ability, competence or understanding of the education system. Our nervousness is that when a conservative Department meets a conservative Minister, the possibility of a radical overhaul of our education system may be affected. Such an overhaul could lead to having equality at the centre of the system and addressing its constitutional underpinning, which ensures that we do not really have a State education system. We will not necessarily have the opportunity to deal with that in a radical way. I was hoping that the proposed citizens' assembly could deal with the constitutional underpinning of the education system. In her response, the Minister did not give a timeline as to when the citizens' assembly will meet. I ask again what is the Minister's ambition for its establishment, sitting and terms of reference? I am sure she has an opinion on the matter.

I come from a strong education background and I believe strongly in educational equality and inclusiveness. I am a fan of the Citizens' Assembly and I will be hugely supportive of a citizens' assembly on the future of education because I believe in the democracy that it will represent. The terms of reference for the education citizens' assembly will be set out in the Oireachtas resolution establishing it. This will be informed by the views of all the relevant partners. That is fair and as it should be. Based on previous assemblies, the citizens' assembly on the future of education could be wide ranging, including constitutional issues, or it could focus on very specific areas of interest. Consultation informing the Oireachtas resolution could also consider whether the focus of the assembly should cover learning from cradle to grave or the primary and post-primary sectors. The other citizens' assemblies have considered constitutional provisions in relevant areas and a similar approach could be adopted for an education assembly. Other sources for topics could include the range of education-related commitments in the programme for Government, many of which are likely to generate considerable public interest and could benefit from debate in a citizens' assembly forum. It is worth noting that any such discussion in an assembly will complement rather than replace existing and extensive partner engagement fora in the sector. These include the work of the inspectorate and listening to the views of pupils, the primary education forum, industrial relations engagement mechanisms and our work with partners in responding to the pandemic.

That all sounds great. My problem is in predicting our engagement with the Minister. Over the next period when we raise something that could radically overhaul the education system or bring in legislation that could enhance equality provisions within education, her go-to answer could very easily be that we will deal with the matter in the citizens' assembly. What I need from her is a commitment on when she wants the citizens' assembly to be established. Even if she could name a year, I would appreciate it. The last thing I or any Deputy wants to do is have a policy, motion or Bill before the House and for the Minister to pick up a script saying the citizens' assembly is the best place to deal with it. I ask the Minister to give me a year by which she hopes the citizens' assembly will have started its deliberation.

I appreciate the genuine enthusiasm the Deputy has for the Citizens' Assembly. I share that enthusiasm because of the Citizens' Assembly's democratic and inclusive nature. At this point, four weeks into the job, I intend to formulate a three-year strategy and annual implementation plan which will incorporate priority actions from the programme for Government. This will include at its centre the citizens' assembly on the future of education. I will publish the details of that before the end of the year.

Question No. 6 replied to with Written Answers.
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