Darragh O'Brien (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

I could never forget Clontarf with Deputy McGrath here.

The north county of Dublin has its own special identity. People do see themselves in the main as Dubs but also as Fingalians. Swords is the capital of Fingal from where Fingal County Council operates. The findings of the commission's report with the stroke of a pen transfers 13,000 voters from Swords to Dublin West. The entire River Valley and Forest Road area of Swords, which represents 40% of the voting population of 34,000, will be removed from its rightful constituency to one which has no connection to the town. No right-minded person could make sense of this recommendation.

The Electoral Act 1997 states "each constituency shall be composed of contiguous areas" and "there shall be regard to geographic considerations including significant physical features and the extent of and the density of population in each constituency". This report in no way takes into account contiguous areas. The 13,000 voters from Swords proposed to be transferred to Dublin West are a full 10 km from the nearest major town in Dublin West, namely, Mulhuddart.

The people of Swords are genuinely devastated by this report. I have not known any previous report to have had such an effect on the area or to get people so charged about an issue. People are genuinely concerned that they will lose the effective representation that all four TDs, including myself, offer to Dublin North and the town of Swords. This is no reflection on the TDs in Dublin West, including Deputies Joan Burton and Leo Varadkar. It merely states the reality.

The town of Swords has one local electoral boundary. It is one electoral area for local elections. Splitting the area in two disenfranchises and weakens the chances of local politicians and councillors of ever running in a general election. If a county councillor represents both sides of the Swords area to the best of his or her ability he or she will lose out on a large portion of what is his or her strongest voting block for the general election. Local councillors from other areas throughout the constituency will have a distinct advantage over Swords councillors as their entire electoral areas will remain intact, which is not the case in the Malahide ward. These are the thoughts of the Swords Electoral Boundary Action Group which has done a great deal of work and made a welcome submission to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government which was well put together. I hope it is taken into account. No other town in my constituency is split in this way.

The commission states the population is being moved to support the four seat constituency of Dublin West. However, it will also deny the people of Dublin North the five seat constituency they should have. In development plans, the population of Swords is projected to grow to 100,000 people. How will we deal with this being split over two Dáil constituencies? It is highly likely that Dublin West will have ample population in the next census to be a four seat constituency and that the area of Swords to which I refer will move back to Dublin North. To propose such drastic changes and implement them for a five year period makes absolutely no sense to me and my constituents.

In Portmarnock, Balgriffin and parts of Baskin in the southern end of my constituency, 9,000 voters will be moved to Dublin North-East to effectively prop up a three seat constituency. Portmarnock is a sister town of Malahide and is part of the Malahide electoral ward within Fingal. It will be thrown in with areas of the city council. We will have two sets of councillors from two local authorities in two Dáil constituencies trying to represent the areas of Portmarnock and Balgriffin. The feeling of disenfranchisement in Portmarnock is palpable. Only last week, I met residents who were dismayed at the prospect of being lumped into another constituency with which they have no connection. My colleague in the council, Councillor Eoghan O'Brien, will represent a ward where one third is in the constituency of Dublin North-East and where part of the constituency is in Dublin City Council.

It would have been more logical for the commission to have proposed that Dublin North-East and Dublin North-Central be merged to create a five seat constituency and Dublin North should have gained a seat and become a five seat constituency. At the time of the most recent election, Dublin North had a population which would have required a five seat constituency. It could be argued that we are already under-represented. If implemented, I see these changes as temporary and this area reverting to Dublin North in five years time.

The process is flawed and boundary changes are made without due attention to population projections. All parties should insist the commission's report is re-examined prior to its implementation. Many of my colleagues from throughout the country have already made cases as to why proposed changes make no sense in their areas. We are the legislators and we should not be afraid to state when a report's findings are plainly incorrect and of no benefit to the people who really matter, namely, the citizens. If this report is accepted, which I expect it will be, we must ensure future reports are not accepted by the Department until they are debated. It is hoped the members of the permanent electoral commission, which will take over this function for future elections, will bear the needs of the citizen at the forefront of their minds.

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