The Citizens Assembly is inviting members of the public, representative groups and citizen organisations to make a submission to the Assembly on the second topic the Assembly will consider ‘How we respond to the Challenges and Opportunities of an Ageing Population’.
The Citizens Assembly is an exercise in deliberative democracy, placing the citizen at the heart of important legal and policy issues facing Irish society today. It is a made up of the Chairperson, Ms. Justice Mary Laffoy, and 99 citizens, randomly selected to be broadly representative of the Irish electorate. Following consideration of the topic the conclusions and recommendations of the Assembly members will form the basis of a report submitted to the Houses of the Oireachtas for further debate.
Justice Laffoy said “Without a doubt the challenges and opportunities of Ireland’s ageing population are many and it will be the role of the Assembly members to consider how we respond to them. Therefore, I would encourage people to carefully consider and articulate within their submission what type of response they feel is required to meet the challenges and opportunities.
“I would also encourage people, both young and old to make their views known on the topic by making a submission. The submissions will play a key role in helping develop the work programme on the topic and can ultimately shape the recommendations being made by the members to the Houses of Oireachtas.”
The submissions process will formally open today April 3rd with a closing date of May 5th 2017. All documents received by the Assembly secretariat may be listed on the website, in order of date received and displayed with a name/name of organisation, and the title of the submission.
Submissions can be made online at www.citizensassembly.ie or by post to Citizens Assembly, 16 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, to arrive no later than May 5th 2017.
For more information on the Citizens Assembly go to www.citizensassembly.ie .