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The Citizens' Assembly ( and also known as We The Citizens) is a
citizens' assembly Citizens' assembly is a group of people selected by lottery from the general population to deliberate on important public questions so as to exert an influence. Other names and variations of deliberative mini-publics include citizens' jury, ci ...
established in Ireland in 2016 to consider several political questions including the
Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland (, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executi ...
. Questions considered include:
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
, fixed term parliaments,
referendums A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...
,
population ageing Population ageing is an overall change in the ages of a population. This can typically be summarised in a single parameter as an increase in the median age. Causes are a long-term decline in fertility rates and a decline in mortality rates. Most ...
, and
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. Over 18 months a report is produced on each topic. The government is required to respond officially to the reports in the (parliament); responses have been given on three of the five topics.


Background

The Citizens' Assembly was a successor to the 2012–14 Constitutional Convention, which was established by the Oireachtas in accordance with the government programme agreed by the Fine Gael–Labour coalition formed after the 2011 general election. Convention members were a chairperson nominated by the government, 33 representatives chosen by
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
, and 66 randomly chosen citizens. Meeting over 15 months, it considered seven constitutional issues previously specified by the Oireachtas and two more of its own choosing. It made 18 recommendations for
constitutional amendments A constitutional amendment (or constitutional alteration) is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly alt ...
and 20 for other changes to laws or Oireachtas standing orders; the government accepted some, rejected others, and referred others to committees for further consultation. In 2015
Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...
entertained the possibility of a similar body meeting after the next general election, which occurred in 2016. In the buildup to the election, various politicians proposed changes to
Irish abortion law Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...
, including repeal of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which guaranteed a foetal right to life. In November 2015, Kenny promised "a Citizen's Convention on the constitution, or whatever title would be appropriate" to address the issue.


Establishment

The programme agreed by the Fine Gael–independent minority government formed after the 2016 election included this commitment: On 13 July 2016, Damien English moved a resolution in the
32nd Dáil The 32nd Dáil was elected at the 2016 Irish general election, 2016 general election on 26 February and first met at 10.30 a.m. on 10 March 2016. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of ...
(lower
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
) approving the "calling of a Citizens' Assembly" to consider the four issues specified in the government programme and "such other matters as may be referred to it". A
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
amendment was accepted which added "how the State can make Ireland a leader in tackling
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
" to the list of topics.
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
and AAA–PBP amendments were rejected. An analogous resolution was passed in the 25th Seanad (upper house) on 15 July. In July 2019 Eoghan Murphy introducing legislation related to the "Dublin Citizens' Assembly" and the "Citizens' Assembly 2019". ''The Irish Times'' viewed these as lacking the justification for the original Citizens' Assembly, in that they relate to "purely political issue which TDs are well capable of deciding".


Personnel


Chairpeople


Members

Members of each assembly consist of 99 citizens and the chair for a total of 100 members. The 99 other members were "citizens entitled to vote at a referendum, randomly selected so as to be broadly representative of Irish society". The representative criteria included gender, age, location, and
social class A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the Bourgeoisie, capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for exam ...
. For the 66 citizen members of the Constitutional Convention, these 99 plus 99 substitutes were selected by an
opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of qu ...
ing company; Red C won the tender and began selection at the start of September. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2016 was passed to enable the
electoral register An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, voters list, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is ...
to be used in this process. Media were asked not to photograph the citizen members before the inaugural assembly meeting. Members received expenses but no other payment. Of the original 99 members, 17 withdrew before the first working meeting, whose replacements immediately took over; another 11 withdrew before the final abortion meeting, whose replacements did not participate until the assembly moved on to its next topic for discussion. Seven replacements joining in January 2018 were removed the following month when it emerged they were recruited via acquaintances of a Red C employee, who was then suspended, rather than via random selection.


Secretariat

The assembly's
secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...
was drawn from the
civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
. Its office was at 16
Parnell Square Parnell Square () is a Georgian square sited at the northern end of O'Connell Street in the city of Dublin, Ireland. It is in the city's D01 postal district. History Formerly named ''Ruthland Square'', it was renamed after Charles Stewart ...
in Dublin. In June 2016 the assembly's cost was estimated at €600,000, drawn from the
Department of the Taoiseach The Department of the Taoiseach () is the government department of the Taoiseach, the title in Ireland for the head of government.Article 13.1.1° and Article 28.5.1° of the Constitution of Ireland. The latter provision reads: "The head of the ...
, with €200,000 in 2016 and the balance in 2017. In October 2016 the Taoiseach said €2m had been set aside. The total cost to March 2019 was €2,355,557, of which €1,535,133 was spent in 2017.


Deliberation process

The inaugural and introductory assembly meeting was held on 15 October 2016 at
Dublin Castle Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin. It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...
. The Grand Hotel,
Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of 18,608 as per the 2022 ...
won the tender to host later, working, meetings.
RTÉ News RTÉ News and Current Affairs (), also known simply as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative ...
predicted that there would be ten weekend sessions, each "opened with an address from the Chairperson, followed by expert presentations, Q&A sessions and debate, roundtable discussion and a plenary session." Meetings were livestreamed. Submissions from the public were invited. The assembly was originally supposed to complete its business within a year of its first meeting. This was extended in October 2017 and again in March 2018, to 27 April 2018. The government then formally responded to each report. The calendar published in October 2016 included seven three-day working meetings, one in November 2016 and one each month from January to July 2017.


Assembly matters


Eighth Amendment

The first issue to be considered was the Eighth Amendment, beginning at its first working meeting on 25 November 2016. Enda Kenny in September 2016 estimated it could take "six to seven months" to issue a report, which was referred to an Oireachtas joint committee, This committee, in turn, produced a report for debate in each house. Resolutions to establish the "Special Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution" were passed on 4 and 13 April 2017 by the Dáil and Seanad respectively. The assembly's inaugural meeting decided that the abortion issue would be the topic for its first four working meetings, a number later increased to five. An advisory group of five experts was appointed: a medical lawyer, two constitutional lawyers, and two
obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
s. The chairperson said she would investigate claims that an assembly member had publicly expressed pro-choice views on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
. In the Dáil, Mattie McGrath complained that two of the five experts had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the existing abortion provisions. The opposition Anti-Austerity Alliance–People Before Profit (AAA–PBP) scheduled the second stage of a
private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...
repealing the Eighth Amendment for debate in the Dáil on 25 October 2016. Fine Gael opposed the bill on the grounds that it would pre-empt the Citizens' Assembly discussion. Similarly, independent minister
Katherine Zappone Katherine Zappone (; born 25 November 1953) is an American-Irish independent politician who served as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from May 2016 to June 2020. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from ...
said that, in deference to the assembly's work, she would oppose the bill despite herself favouring repeal. The Independent Alliance ministers wanted a
free vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamentar ...
, which Fine Gael opposed as compromising
cabinet collective responsibility Cabinet collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is a constitutional convention in parliamentary systems and a cornerstone of the Westminster system of government, that members of the cabinet must publicly ...
. As a compromise, it was agreed that government TDs would oppose the AAA–PBP bill and would not shorten the assembly's timeframe for considering the abortion issue, but that the Oireachtas would expedite the processing of the assembly's report, by establishing the select committee ahead of time and giving it a strict six-month lifespan. Accordingly,
Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence since January 2025, having previously served as Taoiseach from 2024 to 2025. He has ...
, the
Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...
, moved an amendment to the second-reading motion, that "Dáil Éireann declines to give the Bill a second reading in order that the Citizens' Assembly, established by Resolutions of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, can conclude its deliberations on the Eighth Amendment which is the subject matter of this Bill, and report to the Oireachtas in the first half of 2017". Over 13,000 submissions were received from the public by the closing date of 16 December 2016. More than 8,000 were submitted electronically, including over 3,200 the final 24 hours. Submissions were uploaded to the assembly website, with "personal stories or sensitive submissions" deidentified. Based on feedback from members, the chairperson selected 17 submitting organisations to make presentations to the assembly. These were announced on 21 February: Amnesty International Ireland, Atheist Ireland, Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment, Doctors for Choice, Doctors for Life Ireland, Every Life Counts, Family & Life, Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, Irish Family Planning Association, Parents for Choice,
Pro Life Campaign Pro Life Campaign (PLC) is an Irish Opposition to the legalization of abortion, anti-abortion advocacy group, advocacy organisation. Its primary spokesperson is Cora Sherlock. It is a non-denominational organisation which promotes anti-abortion ...
,
General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...
of the
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
, Iona Institute, National Women's Council of Ireland,
Union of Students in Ireland Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Unio ...
, Women Hurt, Youth Defence.


Votes

The final meeting on abortion began on 22 April, with a series of votes held based on the deliberations from the earlier meetings. The first day's votes were on Article 40.3.3°, the subsection of the Constitution added by the Eighth Amendment: # It should not be retained in full (by 79 votes to 12) # It should be replaced or amended (50 votes) rather than deleted and not replaced (39 votes) # It should allow the Oireachtas to legislate (51 votes) rather than making direct provisions within the Constitution itself (38 votes) regarding "termination of pregnancy, any rights of the unborn, and any rights of the pregnant woman" The second day's votes were recommendations for the envisaged Oireachtas legislation. There were separate votes on a range of potential circumstances in which abortion might be permitted, possibly restricted to a maximum number of weeks' gestation. Journalist Mary Minihan reported the following week that "the consensus in the Oireachtas is that the assembly's recommendations were an overly-liberal interpretation of the current thinking of middle Ireland on the issue." On 29 June 2017, the assembly's official report was laid before the Oireachtas and published. On 11 July 2017, the Oireachtas Joint Committee agreed its programme for considering the report, including a presentation from the assembly chairperson at a public session on 20 September 2017. Laffoy was joined at the meeting by the two leaders of the assembly secretariat. She told the committee that the assembly had considered all of article 40.3.3, including the 13th and 14th Amendments (rights to travel and to information) as well as the 8th (right to life of the unborn), because they were "inextricabl link d.
Rónán Mullen Rónán Thomas Mullen (born 13 October 1970) is an Irish Independent politician (Ireland), independent Seanad Éireann, senator and former delegate to the Council of Europe. He is the leader of the Human Dignity Alliance, an extra-parliamentary ...
said he found its process "disturbing" and criticised it for not acknowledging that the 8th amendment had "saved thousands of lives". Lynn Ruane asked why there was no option to vote for "express positive right to abortion access or to bodily autonomy in pregnancy"; the latter was in the assembly report's ancillary list of issues for the Oireachtas to consider. Laffoy regretted that the assembly had not addressed increased illegal online ordering of abortion pills. The Oireachtas responded to the report by establishing a Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment, which produced its own report in December 2017, with dissent from pro-life members. The government decided a month later to implement the committee's report. The Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, approved by referendum on 25 May 2018, replaced the constitutional prohibition with a provision allowing the Oireachtas to regulate abortion. The Oireachtas duly passed the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 to legalise and regulate abortion, up to 12 weeks' gestation for any reason, and up to viability for fatal fetal abnormality or serious health risk to the pregnant woman.


Ageing population

The first meetings on "how we best respond to the challenges and opportunities of an ageing population" were held on 10–11 June 2017. In May a second weekend, on 8–9 July, was added to the schedule. The assembly received 120 submissions from the public. The first meeting's main topics were
long-term care Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods. Long-term care is focused on individualized and ...
and
independent living Independent living (IL), as seen by its advocates, is a philosophy, a way of looking at society and disability, and a worldwide movement of disabled people working for Equal opportunity, equal opportunities, self-determination, and self-respect. ...
. It was addressed by Eamon O'Shea, social gerontology professor at
NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...
; Pat Healy,
social care Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
director at the
Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) () is the publicly funded healthcare system in Ireland, responsible for the provision of health and personal social services. It came into operation on 1 January 2005. The current director-general is Berna ...
; and Michael Browne of Third Age Ireland and the Citizens Information Board. The second meeting focused on pensions and retirement. Votes were taken on 16 questions: 11 yes/no questions and 5 multiple-choice.


Votes


=Multiple-choice questions

= Assembly members could distribute votes among multiple answers to the multiple-choice questions except question 2. ;Question 2: In general, who should be principally responsible for providing required care for older people? # Person or family, totally: 1 # Person or family, mainly : 47 # State, mainly: 25 # State, totally: 5This value is missing from the source document but can be back-calculated from the other values. ;Question 4: Where do you believe additional funding for care of older people should primarily be spent? # Residential care: 122 #
Home care Homecare (home care, in-home care, care at home), also known as domiciliary care, personal care, community care, or social care, is health care or supportive care provided in the individual home where the patient or client is living, generally focu ...
: 198 # Community-based integrated housing: 186 ;Question 5: Where do you believe overall funding for care of older people should come from? # General taxation: 215 # Compulsory
social insurance Social insurance is a form of Social protection, social welfare that provides insurance against economic risks. The insurance may be provided publicly or through the subsidizing of private insurance. In contrast to other forms of Welfare spend ...
: 255 # Private insurance: 115 # Public–private cost-sharing: 150 ;Question 8: If the Government were to decide to extend regulation to other health and care services for older people, what other services do you believe should be regulated? #
Respite care __NOTOC__ In the field of healthcare, respite care is either planned care or temporary emergency healthcare that is provided to the caregiver(s) of a child patient or of an adult patient. In order to support and maintain the social health of the pr ...
: 70 #
Day care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...
: 68 # Home care: 72 #
Supported housing Supportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives, and is an active "community services and funding" stream across the United States. It was developed by ...
: 71 ;Question 16: When considering how we respond to the challenges and opportunities of an ageing population, which of these suggestions do you believe are the most important to implement? # responsibility for older people should be formally delegated to a dedicated
Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
for Older People. 72 # dedicated information service for older people: 71 # ensure that older people have a stronger voice in determining their own care needs: 69 # stronger governmental leadership in relation to the prioritisation of the health and social care needs of older people: 65 # encourage non-financial intergenerational transfers: 57 # Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 and
elder abuse Elder abuse (also called elder mistreatment, senior abuse, abuse in later life, abuse of older adults, abuse of older women, and abuse of older men) is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where ...
prevention: 72 On 15 May 2019 Jim Daly, the
Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
for Mental Health and Older People, gave a written Dáil response in relation to those recommendations within the remit of the
Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...
.


Climate change

One meeting on climate change was planned, for the weekends starting 30 September and 4 November 2017; the second was added to the schedule on 17 July. Speakers included the chair of the advisory group for a promised " National Dialogue on Climate Change". Recommendations, all passed by at least 80% of members, included: empowering an independent body to address climate change;
Greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...
(GHG) tax, including
carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions from producing goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the hidden Social cost of carbon, social costs of carbon emissions. They are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emis ...
and agricultural GHG tax; encouragement of
climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include energy conservation, conserving energy and Fossil fuel phase-out, repl ...
,
electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
s,
public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...
,
forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...
,
organic farming Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...
, and natural
peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muske ...
s; reduction of
food waste The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...
;
microgeneration Microgeneration is the small-scale production of heat or electric power from a "low carbon source," as an alternative or supplement to traditional centralized grid-connected power. Microgeneration technologies include small-scale wind turbines ...
of electricity; ending subsidy of peat extraction; increasing
bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...
s,
cycle lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor ...
s and
park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...
facilities. The Oireachtas responded to the report by establishing a Joint Committee on Climate Action, which published its own report on 29 March 2019. On 9 May 2019 the Dáil endorsed the committee's report and symbolically declared a "climate and biodiversity emergency",. The motion also requested a Citizen's Assembly to study the
biodiversity loss Biodiversity loss happens when plant or animal species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in Biodiversity, b ...
emergency and how the state can improve its response. A "government action plan on climate change" followed on 17 June 2019.


Referendums

On the weekend of 13–14 January 2018 the Assembly considered the manner in which referendums are held. Recommendations included: * replacing the ad-hoc Referendum Commission with a permanent
Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
, which would be "obliged to give its view on significant matters of factual or legal dispute that arise during a referendum campaign in the public domain (including on
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
)" * giving equal public money to both sides in referendum campaigns, imposing spending limits for registered parties and advocacy groups, and prohibiting anonymous donations to these groups; * allowing multiple referendums on the same day, as at present; 41.7% preferred a maximum of two simultaneously * allowing for preferendums with more than two (yes/no) options; in which case 52% preferred
single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...
would be used to determine the outcome * allowing citizens' initiatives for bringing questions either to the Oireachtas or to a referendum The Assembly considered measures to increase
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
. It supported early voting, weekend voting, postal voting, online voting, lowering the
voting age A legal voting age is the minimum age that a person is allowed to Voting, vote in a democracy, democratic process. For General election, general elections around the world, the right to vote is restricted to adults, and most nations use 18 year ...
to 16, and allowing nonresidents to vote for up to five years after emigrating. It opposed
compulsory voting Compulsory voting, also called universal civic duty voting or mandatory voting, is the requirement that registered voters participate in an election. As of January 2023, 21 countries have compulsory voting laws. Law enforcement in those countries ...
.


Fixed-term parliaments

The meeting on fixed-term parliaments was scheduled for the weekend of 3–4 March but because of Storm Emma was postponed until 14–15 April. The issue was added to the assembly's remit at the insistence of
Shane Ross Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross (born 11 July 1949) is an Irish former Independent politician who served as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from May 2016 to June 2020. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency from 2 ...
of the Independent Alliance during negotiations on forming the government. There were eight public submissions, including one from the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
in favour of the UK system (embodied in the
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (c. 14) (FTPA) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which, for the first time, set in legislation a default fixed-term election, fixed election date for gener ...
). With 71 members present, the assembly voted 36–35 in favour fixed terms; 39–27 for 4 (rather than 5) years as the term; 63–3 in favour of allowing the term to be "cut short subject to certain conditions".


Gender equality

In 2019, the Irish government announced two further Citizens' Assemblies including
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
. This assembly was tasked with exploring and, within 6 months, making recommendations on; barriers that facilitate
gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is in ...
towards girls and boys, women and men; removing gender related economic inequalities, reassess the economic value placed traditional 'women's work'; women's full participation in workplace and political; considering the gender imbalance in care; and gender imbalance in low pay sectors. Former
Secretary-General of the European Commission The secretary-general of the European Commission is the senior civil servant of the European Commission. The secretary-general, who is responsible to the president of the European Commission, is in charge of the various Directorates-General ...
Catherine Day was appointed as chair.


Assessments

In November 2016, David Van Reybrouck commended the Citizens' Assembly and the predecessor Constitutional Convention as models that other European countries could usefully imitate, which could counter the rise of
populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...
. A 2019 editorial in ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'' said that the Citizens' Assembly's work on abortion was a "great success" that "paved the way for the resolution of potentially contentious social issue" and "a vital step on the road to generating support for constitutional change".


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* {{Amendments of the Constitution of Ireland Amendments of the Constitution of Ireland Constitution of Ireland 2016 in Irish politics
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
Abortion in the Republic of Ireland 2016 establishments in Ireland 2018 disestablishments in Ireland