Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

Despite the fact that the report was published last October, we are only discussing the Bill now, almost 12 months later. There has been much delay and uncertainty as to whether the Government would introduce the report as it was or, as the Taoiseach suggested, discuss the division of counties. He was particularly vulnerable on that point because the proposals in the commission's report affect his own constituency. Nevertheless, we are discussing it now. Given that the report implements the CSO figures prior to the 2007 general election, the delay is considerable. I am pleased that one part of the Bill stipulates that in future once the CSO figures are produced that will kick start such a report and it will be able to use the preliminary figures rather than the final report. That is a positive development, given the time delay in getting to this point. The Bill still has to go through Committee and Remaining Stages. If that is the case, we expect the next CSO publication in 2011, following which there should be a report in 2012. Some speakers have said they hope there will be no further change before the next general election. Nobody knows. According to the figures I have given, the chances are there will be a new review before the next general election if the Government goes full term. I hope we do not get to that because we had difficulties prior to the 2007 general election where the constitutionality of the boundaries in place at that time was challenged. As a result of that judicial review there is a provision in the Bill which provides that once the CSO publishes its figures that will kick start a boundary review.

My constituency is not affected. However, the adjacent constituency, Cork North-Central, will go from four seats to five. In the previous review, Cork City and county had 18 seats but will now have 19. Also in this review it is proposed that there will be a seat loss in the Limerick-Kerry area, the Acting-Chairman's area. This is a stark reminder of how these seats have gone to the east of the country and it underlines the population drift. That is for another debate, and one that should take place, in regard to where we are going in terms of decentralisation and investing in the regions to ensure there is not over-population of the east. What is happening is that everything is drifting to the east. Looking to the future, we need to invest in the regions to ensure a vibrant population in those areas. That seats are drifting to the east in this review underlines that fact.

While my constituency has not been affected, I agree that county boundaries should not be divided. Leitrim is a point in case. It is probably impossible to elect a representative from the Leitrim area now. Kerry North-Limerick East is a new constituency. There are people in that area who will have representation from a different county. That is not the ideal way forward. That same applies in Tipperary North and Offaly. There will be different local authorities in those areas. There will be a Dáil constituency but yet two local authorities will be responsible for that constituency. That is difficult and not an ideal situation.

The recent local authority boundary review tried as far as possible to stick with the Dáil constituency boundaries. That is welcome. Under this review, five counties are affected, including Leitrim. I hope this trend does not continue because the people living in those areas are not be happy, and certainly their representatives are not happy. It will lead to difficulties and confusion in regard to local authority areas. I would like to see that issue addressed.

I am concerned that the number of five seat constituencies has been reduced as they contributed much to our democracy. They gave smaller parties an opportunity to gain representation which would not happen if there was a dearth of three seat constituencies. It is important to maintain them because when one looks back at previous elections and the way in which proportional representation delivered seats for the smaller parties, it happened generally in the five seat constituencies.

I am pleased the programme for Government proposed that an electoral commission be established to look at constituency boundaries, maintain the electoral register and act as a watchdog for political funding. It is an interesting proposal. Professor Richard Sinnott has been engaged by the Minister to look at the proposal. I will be interested to see his findings.

Much work needs to be done on the electoral register. We have had many negative reports, although it varies across local authority areas. It was good in my area but there are areas which had a population of 105%. Obviously there is a great deal of movement in the population with people renting homes and apartments and the register is not up to speed. I look forward to the report on that issue.

It is a shame there has been such a long delay in getting to this point. I hope the provision in the Bill that will kick start a review, once the CSO figures are produced will help us to avoid such a long delay in the future. Following a two and a half month break from the House, I am disappointed that in a Bill such this, which has been kicking around for a long time, that is all the Government has to put on the table today.

I look forward to the debate later this evening on the economy. It will be an opportunity for people to share their views. Certainly my party has some positive proposals in that area. However, we would have preferred if the Government had devoted its time to such a debate today.

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