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The Taoiseach this morning thanked the members of the Citizen’s Assembly at their final meeting for their work and for embracing the challenges and changes in the process in order to comply with Covid-19 public health guidelines.

The Taoiseach also thanked the Chair Catherine Day for the many hours of work that she gave to the Assembly and for her commitment to seeing this through, ably assisted by the Secretariat.

Speaking to the members he said

“I am looking forward with great interest to reading your report on this hugely important issue of Gender Equality”

Recalling what he said when he addressed the Assembly in October, the Taoiseach reiterated that Citizens’ Assemblies have a proud track record in Ireland and that the members efforts have continued in this tradition, conducting their work in the spirit of fairness, openness and respectful dialogue.

The Taoiseach paid tribute to those members who had to develop new skills to interact with the technology and voting system, acknowledging that the Assembly could not have gone ahead without their willingness to adapt and evolve.

The final report of the Citizen’s Assembly on Gender Equality is expected to be presented to the Oireachtas and published in June 2021.

ENDS

Notes to editors

The Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality was established by Oireachtas Resolution in July 2019.

It held its inaugural meeting in January 2020 and its first weekend meeting in February 2020.

Meetings scheduled for March through to July 2020 were postponed due to Covid-19.

The Citizens’ Assembly adapted, moved on-line and continued with the programme of work with 6 online meetings held between October 2020 to March 2021, culminating in the final meeting over the weekend of 17-18 April 2021.

The results of the voting are being announced publicly at an online event today (Saturday 24 April) with the final Report due to be submitted to the Oireachtas by June 2021.