Citizens' Assembly

A Citizens’ Assembly brings citizens together to discuss and consider important legal and policy issues in Ireland. The Assembly then makes recommendations and reports back to the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament).

A Citizens’ Assembly on drugs use started in April 2023. The Assembly met for the final time on 22 October 2023.

The Assembly presented its final report including 36 recommendations for a new Irish model to reduce harm caused by illicit drugs use on 25 January 2024.

2022

Two Citizens’ Assemblies took place in 2022. They considered:

• A directly elected mayor for Dublin
• How to respond to the loss of biodiversity

The Citizens’ Assembly on a directly elected mayor for Dublin met for the final time on 1 October 2022. The Assembly voted in favour of recommending a directly elected mayor, and presented its final report including its recommendations on 27 January 2023.

The Citizens’ Assembly on the loss of biodiversity met for the final time on 21 January 2023. The Assembly presented its final report including its recommendations on 5 April 2023.

2020-2021

The 2020-2021 Citizens’ Assembly was established to consider gender equality. The Assembly made its final report including its recommendations (pdf) on 2 June 2021.

2016-2018

Between 2016 and 2018, the Citizens’ Assembly was established to consider:

• The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (pdf)
• How we best respond to the challenges and opportunities of an ageing population (pdf)
• Fixed term parliaments (pdf)
• The manner in which referenda are held (pdf)
• How the State can make Ireland a leader in tackling climate change (pdf)

A Citizens’ Assembly is typically made up of 99 randomly selected members of the public and one appointed chairperson.

Before 2022, members of the Citizens' Assembly were selected at random from the electoral register.

Since 2022, any adult resident in the State is eligible to become a member of a Citizens' Assembly. This includes people who are not Irish citizens and who are not enrolled on the electoral register.

Invitations are sent to randomly-selected households. From those who reply agreeing to take part, members are selected to reflect Irish society in terms of age, gender, social class and regional spread.

Each Assembly agrees its own rules and procedures for how it will carry out its business. The Government and the Oireachtas agree Terms of Reference before a Citizens’ Assembly starts, which are guidelines that help define the work of the Assembly.

The Assembly may invite and accept submissions from people who are interested in any of the issues being discussed, such as expert advisory groups.

When the Assembly finishes considering each issue, it develops a series of draft recommendations and votes on each. It then reports to the Houses of the Oireachtas and makes recommendations. The next step for the Government is to provide a response to each recommendation and arrange for a debate in the Oireachtas.

If the Government accepts a recommendation that the Constitution should be amended, its response in the Oireachtas will include a timeframe for the holding of a referendum.

You can find details of previous Assembly meetings on the Citizens’ Assembly website. You can watch videos and streams of the Assembly’s meetings on the Citizens’ Assembly YouTube channel.