Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, although I would prefer to spend the time discussing the state of the economy and the pressures facing individuals and institutions. Economic issues have an influence on the movement of people towards the eastern part of the country rather than western and north-western areas.

I welcome the fact that the Houses of the Oireachtas opened a stand at this year's National Ploughing Championships. It is a major event and we were fortunate in having had the Ceann Comhairle officially open the stand on Tuesday. There was great interest in it and it is important that people are informed of the workings of this House. I wish those involved well in their visits to schools and other places throughout the rest of the year.

In regard to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008, I welcome the fact that there is no change in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan but I am appalled that a further two counties, Longford and Westmeath, have been added to the North West European Parliament constituency, to which County Clare was already added in the previous election. This has been brought about as a result of the failure of Government to provide the infrastructure and jobs needed in the north west to retain and increase the population. Even the Government's decentralisation programme was a total disaster and has now been abandoned. It is unlikely that any one party will get more than one seat in the new North West constituency, which means that each MEP will have to cover an area from Malinhead to the Shannon estuary and from Connemara to the stony grey soil of Inniskeen. That is an impossible project. Governments of whatever kind must look seriously at injecting the necessary support structures into the north and west so as to maintain and increase the population base in those areas rather than continuing the present Government's insistence on making all investments on the east coast.

This brings me back to my situation in Cavan-Monaghan. According to statistics and the information provided by the independent commission dealing with this revision, my constituency is close to the bottom in terms of the retention of five seats based strictly on the county boundaries of Cavan-Monaghan. The commission can do nothing in that regard because it must go by the figures in front of it. However, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, and the Government have a major role to play in ensuring that the population of the Cavan-Monaghan region is not only retained but also increased.

The Minister's decision to intervene in the county development plan for County Monaghan, which was clearly based on the advice he was given, has implications for the potential population growth of the county. It was clear from the letter sent in his name that he had never read it because it stated on the first page that he had made decisions on issues regarding County Monaghan in January 2007, even though he was then a humble Green Party spokesperson and not a Minister. While I have some sympathy with his letter dealing with some of the expansion programmes for villages, his decision to restrict planning in areas of the county that were not classified as CLÁR is unforgivable. A friend of mine spent €10,000 on a planning application which should have been granted by the middle of the following week but was blocked by the Minister's outburst on a Sunday evening that declared planning permission for his site was restricted to people living in the immediate area. He has lived only one mile outside this area for most of his married life.

It is encouraging that the people of Monaghan should be able to build houses under normal planning regulations in any part of the county where depopulation has been a scourge. The border counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and Donegal have suffered more than most as a result of the Northern Ireland troubles. Governments have failed to provide inward investment into the area and if the peace process is to mean anything, the Government, particularly the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, must ensure that the commitment of the previous Taoiseach to increase investment is delivered and that high technology jobs are created.

The failure of the Government to deliver on its decentralisation project is a serious cause of concern. Some 80 Department of Social and Family Affairs jobs were committed to Carrickmacross and, in fairness to the staff and management of Monaghan County Council, every effort was made to provide accommodation. Unfortunately, however, the project was held up as a result of party political resistance and the enthusiastic private investor pulled out in frustration. These jobs in Carrickmacross, which were over-subscribed by people who wanted to move home or into the area, would have maintained or increased our population. Similarly, 350 jobs were destined for Cavan and would not only have benefited the Cavan area in terms of population but would also have utilised many of the unused housing developments currently available. While I appreciate these issues may not be directly relevant to the Bill before us, I raise them as examples of the Government's failure to maintain or increase populations in difficult rural northern and western areas.

I have no problem with the people named by the Minister, Deputy Gormley, as members of the present revision commission because they have a job to do. However, unless the Government takes action to increase its involvement in the development in areas outside of what was originally known as the Pale, more and more Deputies will come from the greater Dublin area.

Another issue of concern to rural dwellers in many parts of my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan is the failure of the Government to provide proper broadband facilities. It is extremely important in this day and age that people, even those based in Dublin, are able to work in their home areas. This would not only cut down on time wasted travelling morning and night to the city centre but it would also bring a major benefit to our environment by cutting down on carbon emissions. However, not even certain major companies have hopes of getting broadband at present.

The decision of the commission to increase seat numbers in some Dublin constituencies will provide opportunities for new people to get elected. I wish them well but I can understand the frustration of people in areas like Dún Laoghaire, Limerick City and others where the number of seats has been reduced from five to four, meaning that some of the city members must lose or go elsewhere.

A similar situation has occurred within my own constituency in respect of the county council elections, where some individuals have lost their immediate electoral base and will find themselves under tremendous pressure. While the Cavan-Monaghan constituency will be retained under the Bill, I have first-hand knowledge of how much pressure a change of boundaries can cause to individual politicians and their families.

While we accept the decisions of independent commissions, it is sometimes very hard to see their logic. I welcome the Minister's comments to the effect that he wished to hold more consultations. It is vital that there be consultations on the ground, in addition to looking at maps in Dublin, so that simple logic can prevail. When one area is shown as a long stripe and others only cover small areas, one has to question the thinking of the commission. The numbers may add up, but the process could be carried out in a different way.

The use of an independent commission is the best way to carry out this exercise and I support the Bill in principle in the knowledge that my party spokesperson will table amendments, which I hope will be accepted in a constructive way. I wish the Minister well but it is vital that, in the interests of democracy and fair play, when reasonable amendments are tabled they are not blocked for the sake of opposition. I urge the Minister to listen to constructive amendments to make this Bill worthwhile.

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