Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I propose to share time with Deputy Charles Flanagan. The Taoiseach, who was then Minister for Finance, expressed his concerns about the constituency boundaries. I would be concerned at political interference in this issue and I hope this is not another aspect of the dictatorial ethos we see from the Government.

There is an issue of county boundaries, to which many speakers referred. Avoidance of breaching county boundaries is part of the terms of reference. The document published on county boundaries last year increased the number of county boundary breaches by three rather than reducing it, in Kerry-North Limerick, Louth-Meath and Offaly-North Tipperary. That which has got the most publicity was the division of County Leitrim and the creation of my constituency, Roscommon-South Leitrim, and Sligo-North Leitrim. Specific provision must be made in the terms of reference for small counties such as Leitrim. There must be division in larger counties such as Meath, Cork and Tipperary because it is logistically impossible to have constituencies that big. It is important for a small county like Leitrim that county boundaries are sacrosanct. The report before us should be returned to the commission requesting that it amend its terms of reference to provide that the boundaries of counties with a population of fewer than 50,000 or 60,000 remain intact. It is possible to create constituencies that remain within the thresholds set out in the Constitution.

I was the only Deputy from my constituency who made a submission to the Constituency Commission. I made a detailed submission outlining how County Leitrim could be retained in one constituency while ensuring proper representation throughout the province of Connaught. My point was that County Roscommon should remain intact as should County Leitrim and that a new three seat constituency of Roscommon-East Galway be established with two further four seater constituencies in Galway.

There has been a long association between Roscommon and Galway East with one constituency crossing the River Suck on a number of occasions in the past. There is a great deal of co-operation across the county boundary. For example, many people in north-east Galway have a strong affinity with public representatives in County Roscommon. I deal with these people on a weekly basis and have no difficulty doing so. There are also many economic ties between Roscommon and Galway East. The Constituency Commission could have addressed this issue by looking at it from this particular perspective.

I urge the Government to review this matter with a view to amending the terms of reference to provide that the county boundaries of counties with a population of under 60,000 be sacrosanct. It is feasible to do this. In the past, we had crazy constituencies as a result of political decisions. When former Deputy Jack McQuillan was a Member of this House, County Roscommon was divided into five separate constituencies. We do not want this to happen again in the future. It would be easy to address the concerns that have been raised by amending the proposals given to the commission in the first instance.

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