Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill, which will form the basis for the conduct of the upcoming general election, which may occur in one or two years.

The Bill proposes a total of 43 constituencies, one more than the previous constituency revision, but without any increase in the number of Deputies to be elected to the Dáil, which remains at 166. Given that the population has increased by approximately 25% in the past 15 years, it might be an appropriate time to consider increasing the number of Deputies to 168. Some people may feel there are too many of us, but that is life.

The Bill provides for a total of 12 five-seat constituencies, 13 four-seat constituencies and 18 three-seat constituencies. As Deputy Haughey said, it is a new feature that we are beginning to increase the number of three-seat constituencies. Nevertheless, even though the overall number of Dáil Deputies will remain the same, the Bill will have the effect of changing considerably the political landscape. It allows for a more sweeping revision of constituency boundaries than many previous revisions. It changes 23 constituencies, leaving 15 unchanged, creates five new constituencies and replaces four existing ones.

Electoral systems are a significant part of the web of legal and civil institutions that societies construct to govern themselves. In the early years of the State, multi-member constituencies were not uncommon, with as many as six and seven members from each constituency. For the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, multi-seat constituencies are the norm, with six and seven members elected in most areas. During the recent election in Northern Ireland we witnessed, on the one hand, six and seven seat constituencies and, on the other, the one man one vote system, which lead to tactical voting. This does not allow people to vote for the individuals they want. Proportional representation is the purest form of representation in that it ensures that Deputies are elected more or less in proportion to the number of votes cast for each party grouping.

The first Dáil adopted a system of multi-member constituencies, returning as many as eight and nine Deputies, and it ensured that the widest cross section of interests were represented in Dáil Éireann. The original intentions of the nation-builders in the 1920s was not to design a system that would be applied to a vast majority of three-seat constituencies. The independent electoral commission's hands were tied by the Government's stipulation that constituencies were to be confined to three, four and five-seat constituencies. It could not have decided to return to six-seat constituencies. The electoral commission also has in its terms of reference the stipulation that there should be an average representation of one Deputy per 22,598 people. This is subject to a 5% deviation either way and that county boundaries would be adhered to as far as possible.

County loyalty is still very strong throughout the country. The electoral commission members followed the county boundary stipulation as far as possible in the past. Unfortunately, the tendency towards a proliferation of three-seat constituencies leads to a gross distortion of PR, since a disproportionate number of Deputies, two out of three, is frequently returned as against the votes cast. The effect of such a multiplicity of three-seat constituencies is to minimise the number of minority Deputies elected. A truer reflection of voters' preferences would emerge from a general election if there were 20 five-seat, 12 four-seat and six three-seat constituencies.

The original purpose of the PR system was to return a correct proportion of Deputies from the various parties as close as possible to the proportions of the votes cast for the various party groups. It has been said that PR makes every vote count and produces results that are proportionate to what the voters desire. Experience has shown that proportional representation has produced successful governments less ignorant to citizens' needs. Accordingly, citizens become less apathetic and more content with the way the system works. It has proved itself to be the most dependable method of electing Deputies to Dáil Éireann, even though its effectiveness has been steadily eroded down the years by the reduction of constituency representation. Even though the 23 female Members of the House is a long way short of what it should be, PR encourages women to have a greater representation in our Parliament compared with the British system.

The skewed results that emanate from a preponderance of three-seat constituencies depart radically from the spirit and purpose of PR. They provide results that are frequently at variance with the voters' intentions. How can 66% of the seats in an area that are won with 47% of votes cast be construed as representing the democratic will of the people of the area? The number of three-seat constituencies continues to grow, diminishing the proportional nature of the electoral system and getting as close as possible to the effect of a system of single member constituencies.

The proportional nature of the system has been largely diluted by the proposal to split County Leitrim down the middle. Leitrim is being divided between counties Sligo and Roscommon to form two new constituencies of Sligo-North Leitrim and Roscommon-South Leitrim. It is quite conceivable that we could get back to the situation that prevailed in the 1970s when Leitrim was similarly divided between Roscommon and Sligo. I listened to Deputy Ellis who was very eloquent in dealing with this matter. I would not be surprised if he is re-elected in his constituency. He spoke very well and made a very strong case. At the time there was not a single Deputy from County Leitrim elected in either constituency and the people of the county were effectively disenfranchised for several years until the county was reunited in the constituency of Sligo-Leitrim.

Shifts in population require that constituency boundaries be redrawn from time to time to reflect the population shifts reported in the census. According to the recent census in 2002, Ireland has a population of just over 3.9 million. It also reported dramatic differences in the rate of population growth in different areas of the country. We all know there is a leaning towards the east coast and that the population is not increasing to the same extent in rural areas. This is because of the failure of our decentralisation programme. If we are to increase the population in certain areas, we should reconsider decentralisation, promote industry and create jobs in rural areas.

The manipulation of constituency boundaries in the past used to be known as gerrymandering. There are several notorious examples of efforts to secure party advantage in the House practised by different Governments. Gerrymandering was the political weapon of choice. Its main purposes were to protect the seats of incumbent Deputies and to allow the dominant party to win more seats than it deserved. There were opportunities for Governments to gain a few extra seats for themselves.

The overall number of Deputies has been fixed by law at between 164 and 168. I made reference to the need to consider increasing this number. The electoral commission, which adheres strictly to its terms of reference, has been cited as the reason we have not had overall majorities for over 25 years.

In the United Kingdom's first-past-the-post system, minority groups are either left out or under-represented and the overall results merely provide an illusion of political consensus. The first-past-the-post system produces serious distortions that are remedied by a PR system. In the United Kingdom, for example, the former Liberal Party, now the Liberal Democrats, frequently polled over 30% of the votes cast in the country, yet returned with a paltry 11 or 12 seats out of 630.

The claim that winner-takes-all elections are inherently more capable of bridging political divides does not bear up under scrutiny. Such is the main fallacy of the single-member constituency, be it in the British first-past-the-post system or our by-election system, in which just one person is elected by the single transferable vote.

The single-member constituency would put independent or minority candidates at an extreme disadvantage in the face of the massive machines of major parties. I have no doubt that many in this House would like to see this happen. I listened to one gentleman from Mayo yesterday who would be absolutely delighted if there were a way of getting rid of Independents. Independents have a place in this Dáil. We are well established here and raise relevant issues, to the extent that major political parties sometimes adopt those issues as their own a week later. Independent voices are being heard and make an impression in the Dáil. The establishment of single-member constituencies would have the effect of minimising the number of Deputies from smaller parties or Independents in the House.

One of the most common criticisms of the PR system concerns its instability. The repeated collapse of the rather shaky coalitions in Israel and Italy creates policy uncertainty and doubts about their governments' long-term viability. The principal problem with PR is that it tends to entrench in power the leadership of the major parties. For most of the half century after the Second World War, no matter how the Italian voters twisted or turned, they found themselves ruled by a government dominated by Christian Democrats and the Socialist Party. Governments fell routinely but the same cast of candidates continued to shuffle Cabinet chairs and to ramble on as before. The end came with the emergence of a regionally dominant business-friendly party that ran on an anti-corruption campaign. However, PR made it harder rather than easier to turf out the broadly unwanted governing parties.

Another drawback of the PR system is the quality of policy choices made by cohabiting governing parties. This is a dynamic problem. A junior coalition partner that supports the dominant party's position may find itself readily forgotten and electorally unrewarded. Hence, the current policy divergence between the current Government partners over the provision of a second terminal at Dublin Airport. In another country, the very suggestion that such a difference could be responsible for the downfall of a government would be regarded as ludicrous.

Our population of 3.9 million is at its highest since the great famine. Consequently, one would think an addition to the number of seats in the Dáil is warranted. However, the electoral commission was probably gauging public opinion in balancing population shifts with the current 166 Dáil seats.

Many have argued in favour of having fewer Deputies and various maximum numbers of seats, ranging from 60 to 100, have been advocated. Some argue that democracy would benefit if fewer Deputies, who would be suitably qualified and more highly paid, were elected. However, who would determine what is meant by "suitably qualified"? As the only Independent Deputy for the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, I do not subscribe to the idea.

Our public representatives are readily accessible to their constituents, irrespective of whether they voted for them. In an effort to bring democracy closer to the people, I intend to make myself as available as possible in the Cavan-Monaghan constituency. I have taken the initial steps to increase the number of locations in which I hold clinics. I am doing so in County Monaghan initially and when this is done I will re-examine my position on holding clinics in County Cavan.

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