Dáil debates

Thursday, 16 June 2005

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage.

 

1:00 pm

Photo of Arthur MorganArthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

In rising to support this amendment, I also acknowledge the willingness of the Minister to allow it to be discussed. I hope that he accepts the amendment because Deputy Gilmore made a clear and well researched point on the difference between the census report and the preliminary report. The census report usually extrapolates other information besides the population. The initial preliminary report deals primarily with the actual population and is arrived at very quickly. If we in this House are to present a fair case to every constituency, then we should seek to arrive at the information available at the earliest possible opportunity. In this case that would be the preliminary report. The margin of error in that report, as was pointed out earlier, is around 130 people, which is minuscule. However, the consequences of not dealing with it could disenfranchise a constituency of appropriate representation for a period of a full five years. That would be unfair.

I hope the Minister accepts this amendment to attach the provisional census report, which is only one step behind the actual census report and is accurate. I do not anticipate that I will go to the High Court to extend the boundary in County Louth, but Deputy Gilmore is absolutely correct. We border on requiring a five-seat constituency to achieve adequate representation. As a four-seat constituency, Louth is the most under-represented statistically in the State. I do not make the case simply because I am one of the four Deputies from Louth, but would make the point if it were true of any constituency. I make the point to demonstrate the divergence to which Deputy Gilmore has already alluded. I support the amendment and hope the Minister is in a position to accept it.

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