Constitutional Convention recommendations
Deputy Adams asks when the Government will respond to the Constitutional Convention’s recommendations. The Taoiseach commends the convention and says work will begin on legislation for an electoral commission, with the remaining reports to be considered.
For the record, I was here and never got any answers. Deputy McGuinness was here in my presence and asked quite a few questions. My question relates to the commitment given by the Government to a timeframe to respond to recommendations by the Constitutional Convention. The Taoiseach knows that I have raised this issue with him a number of times. Yesterday, the convention published its ninth and final report. Last week, in response to a question from me, the Taoiseach acknowledged that the Government did not measure up in terms of allowing time for discussion on the convention's fourth report. We now have nine reports and have not even got round to discussing the fourth one. Can we get some sense from the Taoiseach when he will allow sufficient time for the two reports to be discussed once the chairman's final recommendations are published? The Taoiseach told me that when this happens, he would allow that time. The convention is now finished and has presented its report. I also ask the Taoiseach to join me in commending all those who participated, particularly the citizen members who made such a huge and very uplifting contribution to that process and all the reports. When will we have the opportunity to discuss the work and the recommendations of the convention?
Comment on this
Like Deputy Adams, I commend the citizens who participated in this democratic exercise. The selection process of having 66 citizens from the electoral register was done and reported very fairly. Their contribution was an example of engagement with civic society in a very real way and I commend them on and thank them for that. At its meeting this morning, the Government accepted the recommendation with regard to setting up an electoral commission. The work and process of putting that legislation together will now begin. The Government will return to the two reports, which we received last week, at next week's meeting. I will commit to making time available in the first space that is appropriate for discussion of the reports of the Constitutional Convention. Today, I took that section dealing with the electoral commission, which is part of the programme for Government in any event, and will make preparations to move on with that for implementation during 2015.