Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

Seats follow population trends and that is a requirement of our Constitution. Voters in all parts of the country should be treated equally. The commission dealt with the only constituencies in the country to lose population by recommending the removal of a seat from one and a boundary adjustment with the other two to make all three viable. Action had to be taken and that is what the commission recommended.

Many Deputies mentioned the increase in the number of three-seaters. It has been argued that the creation of two additional three-seaters runs counter to the principle of proportional representation. I do not accept that. Three-seaters have been around for a long time.

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