Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I will check for the Deputy the other issues referred to in the legislation. On the question of the possible examination of how electoral commissions will work in the future, comments have been made by Members on all sides of the House on the impact of the constituency revisions that have been published in the report by the commission to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which are meeting with varying degrees of enthusiasm on all sides. This indicates that because of the huge shift in population etc. there was a greater degree of change on this occasion than was the case in the past. We are simply presented with a fait accompli and practitioners of politics like ourselves do not have an input into what is happening. The independence of the commission is in no way being challenged or compromised, but there is some merit in an interim report being published which would invite comments from the House on the workability of the efficacy of some of the proposals, which could be taken into account by the commission when it finalises the report and comes forward with its final position. At present it is a fait accompli .

I spoke to Deputies on all sides of the House and they would more than quibble with some of the decisions. These are recommendations to this House. The House has the right, if it so wishes and a consensus can be gained, to change any part of those. The position since 1977 has been that we have always taken the recommendations in blanket form and we have not considered them. I am aware that since the publication of this report Deputies on all sides of House have had serious reservations about provincial and county boundaries being breached. Radical changes have been proposed vis-À-vis the previous arrangements and a great deal of dissatisfaction has been voiced throughout many parts of the country, including in County Leitrim——

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