John Dennehy (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this Bill and the opportunity to contribute to the debate. It is relatively short but very important legislation. It will significantly enhance or damage the electoral prospects of a large number of candidates in the next general election. However, it will also play a major role in deciding who will represent a large section of the electorate, especially those in the vastly changed constituencies.

Cynics will say that politicians do not care who represents the public once they themselves are elected. There may be an element of truth in this, but it is still important to take account of the inconvenience and concern foisted on the public following significant boundary changes. Deputy Cuffe referred to Leitrim and others will deal with that issue. I will draw on my experience to explain how public representatives and the electorate are affected by the changes recommended by the constituency boundaries commission.

I join the Minister, Deputy Roche, in complimenting all members of the commission on the work they have done. Mr. Justice Lavan, Kieran Coughlan, Deirdre Lane, Niall Callan and Emily O'Reilly faced a difficult task but did a good job. I also compliment them on taking initiatives, such as the establishment of a website to facilitate public access. This is the sort of action we require from bodies which operate in the interests of the public. They should keep in touch with the public and make it easier for people to communicate and work with them.

It is impossible to please everybody when drawing such boundaries and, while not contradicting the compliments I extended, I have concerns with regard to decisions taken in the past. The first independent constituency boundaries commission was established in 1977 by the then Fianna Fáil Government. At that time, there had been many allegations of favouritism by Ministers for Local Government when drawing new boundaries, but the efforts of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition in 1973-77 was so blatant that the public rebelled and demanded action. My constituency became Mid-Cork and this resulted in a situation whereby voters at University College Cork, based at Western Road in the city centre were voting in the same constituency as those in Ballydesmond, which has a sign which reads "Welcome to County Kerry", and Charleville on the Limerick border. That was a scandal, which has not been replicated anywhere else. If it happened in the North, an international inquiry would probably have taken place. While it was an abuse of power, the result of the elections gave the answer to that malpractice and people refused to tolerate it. The independent commission was established in 1977 for the European elections in 1979. The first Dáil boundary commission followed in 1980 and the 1997 Act established the new commission on a permanent basis.

This is the second set of recommendations from the statutory commission, which it is appropriate for us to examine. The primary purpose of the exercise is obviously to ensure that the electorate is properly represented from a numerical point of view. While this is the overriding requirement, it should not be the only requirement. That is my main concern, particularly in terms of how the system has operated in the past. As the Minister outlined earlier, the commission has clear guidelines in this regard. These come partly from the constitutional requirements and partly from the High Court and the Supreme Court cases to which he also referred. The results of that process are measurable and fairly transparent in that we can examine the figures for each constituency and see how they measure up against each other.

I have concerns about two other aspects of the terms of reference laid down for the commission. These relate to the requirements that each constituency shall be composed of contiguous areas and that there shall be regard to geographical considerations, including significant physical features. The latter represented my main gripe in the past.

In examining how these two requirements are dealt with, I will use the example of the constituency I know best, namely, Cork South-Central. It is a five-seat constituency which, up to now, consisted of about 63% of south city population with the remainder based in the county. In the 1991 and 2001 boundary changes, two of the parishes, Bishopstown and Glasheen, I have represented in the constituency — on the city council and in the Dáil — were split down the centre by commission decisions. They are both quintessential south side areas of the city. After the commission's recommendations were adopted, however, their residents were suddenly transformed into Cork North-Central voters.

Some 9,953 voters, equating to a population of approximately 15,000 were, after the drawing of a few lines on the boundary map, transferred from being south-siders into north-siders, which was very undemocratic. While those outside Cork would not understand the situation, it would be similar to deciding that half of Ballyfermot and half of Kilmainham would be transferred into a north Dublin constituency. Glasheen and Bishopstown are located as far south of the River Lee as those two Dublin parishes are south of the Liffey. The people there would not tolerate being described as living in a north side constituency. It has nothing to do with the value of property, it is a matter of common sense. In this case, the results of the changes involved meant a huge amount to me personally and in my professional life.

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