Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The point has been made to me by a number of people that the concentration of three-seat constituencies is on the northside of Dublin city and has been extended into the commuter belt of County Meath. If one looks at the map of three-seat constituencies particularly, they are clustered. The greatest concentration of three-seat constituencies is in the northside of Dublin, the south west — Kerry and Limerick West — and Cork. The way in which they have fallen in Dublin is due largely to the way in which the 1997 Act has been drawn up.

On the Order of Business this morning my colleague asked what will happen if the 2006 census shows a further change in population and if the general election has not been held by the time the census report is published. Perhaps the Minister would refer to that issue when replying.

The ratio of seats to population has also been raised. The Minister referred to the decisions of the courts in this matter and the variance that is tolerated. Where there is rapid population growth, especially around the edges of Dublin and in the northern part of the Minister's constituency — Kildare, Meath, Louth, Westmeath — the stability that had previously existed in terms of the ratio of seats to population no longer applies. There is a factor here that is often not considered. I appreciate that the ratio, as expressed in the Constitution, is as between population and seat. That does not always translate evenly in terms of numbers of voters and seats. Consequently there is quite a variance in the quotas on the day of an election count. The difference in quota is not explained by differences in turnout. There can be quotas of slightly more than 6,000 ranging to approximately 10,000 as in my constituency. That is a consideration that needs to be taken into account at some future date. The ratio of seat to population needs to be looked at in terms of producing not only a common ratio as between seat to population but also seat to voters. It is undesirable that one can be elected to Parliament on 6,000 in one constituency while it takes 10,000 in another.

The electoral register is an issue on which we need to reflect. Generally, the electoral registers are in poor condition and getting worse but that is not necessarily the fault of those who compile them. It is becoming increasingly difficult to compile the electoral register. The day when a local authority official could call to every house, and be fairly certain of finding people in, and take a note of who was living there and who was more than 18 years of age, is gone. Anyone who is in regular contact with people knows that no matter what time of the day one knocks on doors 50% of the people will be out. The other problem is that there are some places to which one cannot gain access, that is, the gated compounds that are becoming so fashionable. The best the local authority official can do in that case is put a card into the letter box if there is one.

The result is that there are names of people on the electoral register who have moved voluntarily or involuntarily a long time ago. During the recent by-elections I came across three sets of names on the register, all of whom had gone, and nobody had taken them off the register. We have a system whereby if a person is not on the electoral register he or she can be put on the supplementary register. However, there is no supplementary register for taking people off the register. The result is that it distorts what is perceived to be the turnout. What is regarded as a 60% turnout could in reality be a 70% turnout when one takes into account those on the register who have passed on or have moved.

An issue referred to time and again at election time is turnout. This is something to which we need to return. I have long been of the view that we should have Sunday voting. The only change that has made a difference in terms of turnout has been the change that extended the voting hours. The earlier opening and later closing times have facilitated more people to vote. Moving polling day to Fridays has made the position worse. If people take an extra day with the weekend it is likely to be Friday. People move more on Fridays. It is also the day that a person will go for a pint after work with the good intention of having one and going home to vote. By the time they are into their second or third they are concluding that their choice of candidate is safe and that they should stay where they are and buy another round.

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