Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

That is my point. The database and server are located in the Oireachtas. I do not want this access to be removed from Members when an election is called. I hope the Administration, as opposed to the politicians, will give this adequate thought. We need clarity on this issue. One does not want to be prevented from writing to one's clients at that key point. Access to the database and to e-mail may be deemed to be an election expense.

Deputies' facilities are withdrawn on the day the election is announced but that does not apply to Senators, unless a Senator is running for election to the Dáil. As a former Senator who was elected to the Dáil in the most recent general election, I am not pointing the finger at anybody. We need equity and fairness everywhere.

We want a fair and independent assessment of our constituency needs. There have been many experiments in the past, some from this side of the House and some from the Government side, none of which worked. The collective wisdom is that this proposal, with all its faults, is the best available. It is not politically motivated. There is transparency about its intentions, it was published in the press and people had an opportunity to make submissions, all of which were considered fairly.

The Bill contains our future. I do not particularly welcome it because, like the Minister, I am concerned about the issue regarding County Leitrim. Nevertheless, we must live with it. Our demography is changing and we must keep abreast of that change.

Will we use ballot papers or electronic voting in the next election? What will the Minister do about this situation? People believe that €50 million of taxpayers' money was wasted on electronic voting machines. The Independent Commission on Electronic Voting is incurring ongoing expenses. I do not doubt that it will make its decision on this issue soon. We also need the Minister's decision on this issue as soon as possible. In future, the legislation on constituencies should be kept separate from the political mess that the former Minister, Deputy Cullen, made of the electoral system.

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