Citizens’ Assembly recruiter suspended

A RECRUITER for the Citizens’ Assembly has been suspended from duty pending an internal investigation, after it emerged that seven replacement members were enlisted through their own personal contacts and not randomly as required.

The seven replacement members attended just one session of the Assembly held on January 13 and 14, dealing with ‘The Manner in Which Referenda are Held’. The session was discussing terms for holding referendums in general. They have since been relieved of their duties.

Retired judge the Hon Mary Laffoy, who chairs the 99-member Citizens’ Assembly, said she was satisfied that “this is an isolated incident and that it has no impact on the work of the assembly on previous topics”.

However, she said she was “obviously disappointed that the assembly finds itself in a position where these seven individuals, who were recruited in December 2017 and January 2018, have been recruited in a manner which is inconsistent with the agreed methodology”.

A spokeswoman for RED C Research and Marketing, which is responsible for recruiting members of the assembly, said the seven members were identified as potential candidates “through friends and family of the recruiter”.

All seven were recruited by the same person during telephone conversations in December 2017.

The accepted protocol for recruiting citizen members is through “cold calling door-todoor households in the allocated geographic area which is issued to them by RED C”.

The recruiter, who has worked for RED C for the past five years without issue, was suspended from duty pending a “full employment disciplinary process”, she told the Irish Independent.

The issue was uncovered during a “randomised check” of the recruitment process.