Mr. Art O'Leary:

To make a comment in an effort to be helpful, undoubtedly having six-seater constituencies would have resulted in a very different landscape emerging from the recent constituency review. When a five-seater constituency becomes too big, when it has a population too big to remain in that configuration, we only have two choices. We can cut the constituency in two or we can hack off a piece and give it to the neighbouring constituency. There is nothing else we can do. In the cases of Wexford, Fingal and Tipperary, we had to make difficult decisions. One of the most difficult of these decisions was in the constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. The 6,314 people living in Urlingford and Freshford are now voting in Tipperary North. In the context of the number of three-seat constituencies, which rose from nine to 13, seven of these arose from our inability to make six-seaters. It is not for me now to say whether this is a good idea or not. The Oireachtas, in its wisdom, has said there should only be constituencies with three, four and five seats. This is in the draft research programme and we will have a look at it. It certainly has the potential to greatly alter the electoral landscape.