Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá áthas orm deis a fháil labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo.. A number of issues were very prominent in public discourse in the 2011 general election. One of those was political reform, which was made prevalent by the significant distrust of our political institutions on the part of ordinary people and the many cases of corruption by the political class and those around it. Political reform became a buzz word. For some, it meant one thing and for others, something quite different. For those engaging in a grab for power and seeking to appeal to the simplest of arguments, political reform took on the meaning of slashing and burning democratic structures in order to give the impression that politics was changing. These measures remove people further from power and consolidate it in the hands of those who have controlled this State since its foundation without ever showing any real desire to bring about meaningful democratic reform which would put power in the hands of the people at every level and in every part of the State. Any moves towards democratic reform previously undertaken by Government have mostly been, as in this case, to remove power.

What are the grand reforms proposed by this Government? The first measure I will deal with is the cut in the number of Deputies from 166 to 158. This will surely look attractive to an electorate that has become so disillusioned from years of corruption and bad governance but it is playing to the idea that all public representatives are wasteful and not worth paying for. It is the very issue against which the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources spoke recently when he challenged the popular sentiment that politics and everyone involved in it are rotten.

We have all heard the arguments on doorsteps that we are all the same. I am not the same as the people who took the State down this terrible path and who gambled, lost and then sold out the people they claimed to represent. Many in this House are not like that and the argument that the less Deputies the better plays to the idea that we are all just elected "Seanie Fitzs".

Sinn Féin proposes to cut the cost of Deputies but not to reduce the representation of the people. Our proposal would save nearly twice what is proposed in this Bill. With fewer Deputies, people and non-mainstream views will have less representation. Ireland has become a much more diverse place in recent decades but with fewer Deputies these new views, ideas and backgrounds will have less chance to be heard. The last census found that the population had increased by 8.2% since 2006, which means Deputies represent more people than was previously the case. Our workload has also increased due to the current economic and political climate.

Five constituencies are now in breach of the constitutional minimum standards for representation. One of them is my own constituency of Dublin North-West, which is now to take in parts of Drumcondra and Glasnevin. Dublin North-West is a highly populated constituency which was recently highlighted in the map of deprivation produced by the International Centre for Local and Regional Development as containing a large number of areas of high or extreme disadvantage. The constituency returns three Deputies, which is the minimum figure permitted in our voting system, but it is now to expand. How can the Government make laws that blatantly contradict the Constitution? There is on average one Deputy for every 27,640 people. Given the trend of population growth and the possibility of emigrants returning in the future, this figure is dangerously close to the 30,000 mark.

My party argues that local and general election boundaries should mirror each other. A person should not be in a local authority area that has the vast majority of its population in a different general election constituency because it is bad practice and makes the work of providing representation and services more difficult. However, under these so-called reforms, 22 of the 40 constituencies, in breach of the commission's own terms of reference, will cross county boundaries. My colleague, Deputy Stanley, has shown how his own constituency of Laois will take in six divisions from counties Kildare, Offaly and Tipperary. Sligo-Leitrim will also include parts of counties Cavan and Donegal. If there is sense in these proposals I am eager to find it. It is also essential to locate polling booths within reasonable distance of voters. It would make more sense to introduce boundary changes at European, national and local level simultaneously rather than by different commissions over time.

I want to see the most accessible and representative democratic structure possible in this country. I want people to feel engaged in the decision-making process. If we are to carve a republic that has any hope of providing an equal, fair and just society, it is essential that people have a sense of ownership of the political infrastructure. They must not see it as adversarial or a necessary evil. These reforms do nothing to make that goal a reality and are a retrograde step.

We are told these changes are a done deal. Maps have been circulated and politicians have produced literature outlining the changes for their respective constituencies. It would have been preferable to have had our debate before this happened. There are crossovers among local authority areas, including my own, in terms of local elections. Swords is closer to Ballymun and Finglas but the constituency includes parts of Blanchardstown, Swords and the Fingal side of Santry. These boundaries should reflect the general election constituencies. People have to travel long distances to polling booths. I have spoken to many people who have to travel from one end of the constituency to the other to vote. It is an affront to democracy that people should be required to do this. We should also take account of the types of people in the constituencies and how they travel around. Young people are becoming alienated by the thought of travelling long distances by bus. Women are also coming under huge pressure because they generally have other things to do than travel to the other end of a constituency to vote. Constituency boundaries have to be changed but it is important that any such changes are reflected at local and European level.

I recognise that the Constitution requires proportionality of population and representation, but it is frustrating that boundaries constantly change from one election to the next. Politicians and voters are frustrated by this constant change. In the last local election sections of the area I represent were moved to another area and residents' associations had to begin an entirely new process of developing relationships with their representatives.

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