Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

The Labour Party fully supports the principle that decisions in regard to constituency boundaries should be made by an independent commission. It was my party colleague, Deputy Brendan Howlin, who introduced the Electoral Act 1997, which provided for this. The Government and Oireachtas should accept the final report of the commission and enact legislation providing for the changes recommended.

I have full confidence in the independence and integrity of the members who make up the commission. However, they are no more infallible than the rest of us, as it seems, unfortunately, some of the recommendations made in the most recent report would seem to indicate. We are not privy to how the commission reaches its conclusions as it quite properly conducts its business in private. The current procedure is that the commission is established by the Minister; it is given its terms of reference, based on the provisions of section 6 of the Electoral Act 1997; and it then invites submissions from the public and interested groups and in due course issues its final report.

Reviewing the way in which the current system is scheduled I believe the law should be changed to allow for a two-stage process prior to the finalisation of the report. This could be done by the commission, having considered initial submissions, publishing a draft report and inviting further submissions from the public and interested parties. This would at least allow people who believe that a particular recommendation is illogical, irrational or inconsistent with the commission's own terms of reference, to make that point. The commission would be required to consider such submissions but, of course, would be under no obligation to act on them. The final report would then be accepted by the Government and Oireachtas and its recommendations implemented. Such an approach would greatly add to the quality of the commission's work and would greatly improve both the consultation process and inform the recommendations of the final report.

In my view the Oireachtas should act on the suggestion made by Mr. Justice Frank Clarke of the High Court in his judgment last August that urgent consideration should be given to amending the Electoral Act to allow the constituency reviewing process to begin from the time of publication of the preliminary rather than the final census figures. In his judgment Mr. Justice Clarke accepted that the current constituency boundaries, on which last year's election was fought, were seriously out of line. The Oireachtas should now take the opportunity presented by Mr. Justice Clarke's comments to ensure that the people are never again asked to go the polls on outdated constituency boundaries. Furthermore, it is clear there is no longer any need to await final census figures to ensure that accurate data is available to allow a Constituency Commission to redraw boundaries. With the sophisticated information-gathering systems now available to the CSO, it has been clear for several decades that the differences between preliminary and final population figures are insignificant. There is therefore no reason the constituency review process cannot begin when the preliminary figures are published, which is generally about 12 months before the final figures become available.

There is no doubt that had the constituency boundaries been reviewed in advance of the recent election to reflect the changes in population experienced since 2002, then the outcome in a number of constituencies would have been different. Whether these would have been sufficient to alter the overall outcome of the election and the configuration of the present Government, is anyone's guess but it is a question that needs to be asked.

The terms of reference for the commission set out in the 1997 Act should be amended to protect our system of proportional representation and this should be a key term of reference for the work of the commission. Given the position of the stipulated voting system within the Constitution, this is not a point of debate but rather a constitutional requirement. In practical terms this means that if there are two or more possible configurations for constituencies in a particular locality, with due regard being had to all relevant factors, then the commission's leaning should be for the one that provides for a smaller number of constituencies returning a greater number of members rather than for a multiplicity of three-seat constituencies. It is therefore unnecessary to set out the basic maths which goes to show that the purpose of a proportional representation-single transferable vote election is most successfully achieved in constituencies which return more Members.

In a submission made last year, the Labour Party argued that a fundamental requirement for the commission was to protect the element of proportionality to ensure the closest possible correlation between the share of the votes a party gets and the number of seats it secures. Statistics provided to the commission by the Labour Party clearly demonstrate that larger constituencies provide the greater degree of proportionality. Unfortunately the commission took little account of this, leaving the proportion of three, four and five seat constituencies largely the same. More than one third of all constituencies are now three-seaters, the configuration that produces the least proportional outcome. For example, because the Ceann Comhairle is automatically returned, Kerry South will actually become a two-seater, which comes close to rendering the constitutional right of the people of Kerry South to proportional representation null and void.

The people of Ireland have voted in referenda on two occasions to retain proportional representation. We should ensure that the value of this system is not undermined by inadequate terms of reference given to the commission. I would suggest that the 1997 Act be amended by the insertion of the following new paragraph in the commission's terms of reference:

The Commission shall, so far as practicable, recommend such arrangements in relation to the constituencies as are best calculated to result in an outcome where the number of members of each qualifying party elected to Dáil Éireann, as a proportion of the total number of members of the Dáil belonging to qualified parties, is the same proportion as the total number of first preference votes obtained by the candidates of each such qualifying party at the general election bears to the total number of first preference votes obtained by candidates of all qualifying parties at that election.

The terms of reference could also be changed to allow for the creation of six-seaters, where appropriate, which are more favourable than two three-seat constituencies side by side. These changes would result in a more open and transparent system for reviewing the constituencies, while preserving the principle of an independent process. It would provide results in which the public would have greater confidence and provide a bulwark against the further erosion of our system of proportional representation.

The commission should be looked at in the overall context of institutional reform, leading to a broadening of our democracy which would result in some of the most significant changes to the manner in which in which elections are organised and conducted in the State.

To achieve this goal I intend to bring before the House an electoral commission Bill which would establish a new electoral and public offices commission that would take over the powers of the existing Standards in Public Office Commission and the Referendum and Constituency Commissions. The new body would also take over from local authorities the responsibility for the electoral register and from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the responsibility for the running of elections. This Bill would provide for major changes in the process by which the constituencies are revised. In redrawing the constituencies, the commission will be required so far as practicable, to recommend an arrangement of constituency sizes and boundaries that is best calculated to produce an overall proportionate result. To achieve this result, we will be able to recommend constituencies returning three, four, five or six Members. The bar currently stands at five-seat constituencies. The commission would also be able to commence work on redrawing constituencies based on the preliminary census figures, rather than having to wait for the final report, which is the situation at present. The commission would then produce a preliminary or draft report, which has not been done in this case where the commission has arrived at its findings and we are debating them. That situation should be reversed so that a consultation and information process can be put in place first. In that way, we would not be debating something after the stable door has been closed. Having considered the submissions, the commission would then produce a final report when the final census figures are available.

The publication of a preliminary or draft report would address one of the major shortcomings of the current system — that once the commission produces its report, there is no way of asking it to the review the decision, no matter how illogical, irrational or inconsistent it may have been with its own terms of reference. Some the recommendations made in the most recent report, such as the effective dismemberment of County Limerick and the transfer to 14,000 voters to the Kerry North constituency, would fall into this category.

The other major area of reform concerns the compilation of the electoral register. Despite some belated efforts made prior to the last general election to update the register, anyone involved in active politics will be aware just how inaccurate the register remains.

The Bill I am promoting on behalf of the Labour Party also proposes to transfer to the Constituency Commission the functions of local authorities in preparing and publishing the register of electors. The commission must seek to achieve the comprehensive, accurate and timely registration of persons entitled to be registered as electors in an efficient and economical manner. It also proposes to entitle the commission to information from statutory bodies and utilities, so as to record accurately the names and addresses of electors. The Bill allows for the use of people's public service identity in order to establish their true name and address. A public service identity consists of a person's PPS number, name, date and place of birth, sex, address and nationality.

The electoral process is the cornerstone of our democratic system. It is essential that the public should have full confidence in the reliability of the electoral register and the way in which constituency boundaries are determined. We must examine both these matters together, including how elections are run in terms of structures and systems. In addition, we need to have a commission with powers governing all these areas, which would deliver a more open and transparent system for reviewing constituencies while protecting the principle of an independent process.

A new type of commission is required that would provide for the assurance of an electoral register and an electoral system in which the public could have greater confidence, and which would also provide a bulwark against any erosion of confidence in our democratic system.

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