Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:70. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach the proposed running order of the citizens’ assemblies committed to under the Programme for Government. [2471/22]
View answerWednesday, 19 January 2022
Questions (70)
Written answers
Under the Programme for Government, the Government aims to establish Citizens Assemblies to consider:
- the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin;
- biodiversity;
- matters relating to drugs use and
- the future of education.
Consideration is being given to the appropriate methodology for future Citizens' Assemblies, and decisions in this regard will be guided by the experience of the Gender Equality Assembly which completed last year and the published report (July 2021) by independent researcher appointed by that Assembly to monitor and record, amongst other things, the perceived deliberative quality of the Assembly. This report will assist in decisions on future Assemblies use of virtual meetings.
Specific timing of each Assembly has yet to be confirmed however it is envisaged that the Citizens’ Assembly on the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin will be established in the first instance.
Officials from my department are actively engaging with officials from relevant Departments on the approach to be taken with regard to these Assemblies. However obviously by their very nature, Citizens Assemblies require large gatherings to be truly effective. Therefore there has been an unavoidable delay in the establishment of the next Citizens Assembly due to the public health situation.