John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

——as raised by the Deputy opposite. While attachment to county boundaries is, of course, understandable, the terms of reference of commissions are subordinate to the relevant constitutional provisions which do not refer to counties.

In the High Court judgment of Mr. Justice Budd in the O'Donovan case, it was stated:

. . . although a system in the main based on counties has in fact been adopted, there is nothing in the Constitution about constituencies being based on counties. The Constitution does not say that in forming the constituencies according to the required ratio, that shall be done so far as is practicable having regard to county boundaries.

There is no absolute prohibition on the breach of county boundaries. The experience has been that at times the constitutional provisions require such action, difficult though that may be.

As I have already advised the House, work is under way on the drafting of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008 which will provide for revision of the Dáil and European Parliament constituencies in accordance with the recommendations of the Constituency Commission. The Government approved the drafting of the necessary Bill at its meeting on 30 January 2008. The drafting work is well advanced. My Department is working with the Attorney General's office to ensure the Bill will be published as soon as possible. The passage of the Bill through both Houses will provide a further opportunity for Members to debate the recommendations of the commission.

I welcome very much the comments made during the course of the debate from those Deputies who acknowledge the integrity and independence of the commission. I express my thanks to the commission members for their hard work. I again thank Deputies for their contributions and look forward to further debate on the important issues involved when the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008 comes before the House.

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