Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I hope that will help assuage some of the concerns. This is important because, as with the greater town of Blanchardstown and the developing town of Swords — the county town of Fingal — when it comes to development issues like public transport, investment in education etc., public representatives put on the jersey for Dublin West and Swords despite party differences. They act as best they can in the collective best interests of the communities on the west and north side of Dublin.

The commission's work there was difficult but it is now important that the Government shows certainty as to what it proposes to do. Will it accept the Constituency Commission's report and will it bring it into force so that the uncertainty which applies can be settled once and for all?

In the recent review of local authority boundaries commissioned by the Minister, I am thankful that Swords retained an independent identity. The current position with regard to local authority ward boundaries was retained. Importantly, however, the average representation in Fingal is now 10,000 people per councillor. This means each councillor is effectively representing, depending on the number of seats in the constituency, from one third to one fifth of a Dáil constituency. It makes extraordinarily difficult and taxing representation for the kinds of issues that councillors deal with at local level.

In speaking about new communities, politicians and particularly councillors have an important role in reaching out to people who have bought a home and come to live in an estate of 500, 1,000 or 2,500 people. One estate in Dublin West, Tyrellstown, has been almost entirely constructed and occupied in the past six years and it currently has 2,500 occupied houses. There is no permanent school building yet and no public transport infrastructure other than a bus route. All those economists who fancy buses as a solution to all our public transport issues should live in Tyrellstown for a while, commute by bus and see how much they like it in comparison to metro, rail or Luas.

The failure of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to address the issue of representation is one of the reasons that in very big urban areas like Fingal County Council, it is really difficult for councillors to help foster a sense of community welcome and an invitation to people to participate and work with them to the betterment and development of the community.

It is interesting to note that in Leitrim, where people have understandably complained about not having an opportunity to elect a Deputy from the county, each local councillor represents approximately 1,400 people. The county's deficit in terms of Deputies is to some extent counter-balanced by the number of councillors it has, which makes vibrant interaction between local representatives and citizens possible. Councillors represent relatively small communities of only 1,400 or 1,500 people, whereas their counterparts in Dublin West and Dublin North represent on average more than 10,000 people. Deputy Fleming referred to the democratic deficit. The discrepancy I have outlined constitutes one of the key demographic deficits which, regrettably, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has chosen not to address.

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