Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Coonan spoke about the upset caused by boundary changes. People need a sense of identity with whoever they are electing to the Dáil and the idea of somebody being a significant distance from the area, or not in the natural hinterland, county or even province is an issue the CSO figures probably just do not capture, as it is just numbers rather than people. There is a fair point in that and the terms of reference of a boundary commission can be more specific than they have been. They have tended to be specifically about three, four and five seats, protecting county boundaries in so far as possible and not breaching provincial boundaries. To deal with that, we could have more specific terms of reference for the boundary commission, without being party political but taking those points into account. We have done analysis in my own constituency and found that in those rural areas that would normally vote well, where there is a large area and some parts of the area are far from a polling station, the townlands that are farthest from the polling stations have historically had the lowest turnout. It might be a 16-mile round trip to get to the polling station and people just do not bother. That is a factor that needs to come into it.

Deputy Coonan is right that the big issue we have omitted today is people who do not vote. I am not quite sure whose remit that is in, but that is an issue. We can talk about voter registration, but, to use the Irish Water analogy, they might be registered, but will they pay? They might register for an election, but will they vote? That is the big issue that needs to be dealt with. I did not deal with it and I accept that.