Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I can assure Deputy Cregan that they will not hurl for them either if they can avoid it. We should not underestimate the strength of resolve in this regard. Having discussed this matter with the people of south Offaly over the past few months, they want to vote in south Offaly and they also want to vote in a democracy. They do not want to vote under conditions whereby any party in Government can decide the boundaries of a constituency. People will put the opportunity to vote in a democracy first.

Rather than using this as a roll of lament for our individual losses, the Government should have used this opportunity to tell us exactly what it proposes. It has been talked to death in the areas affected and not one concrete proposal for change has been put forward. People should remember that while everyone thinks the changes in their constituency are the most important, the smallest change will have a domino effect on every other constituency. Any one change could make the legislation unconstitutional. Rather than hearing the Government talk about this issue, I want to hear how it will deal with it. The idea of all-party consensus is neither here nor there because the Government has a majority. The Government should tell us how it will use its majority, ensure the proposal is constitutional and also how it will be free from interference from politicians in a process in which we all have a vested interest.

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