Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le Phairtí an Lucht Oibre as ucht am a roinnt liom. I urge the Government to accept these motions and to move the writs triggering by-elections in Dublin South and Dublin Central. Furthermore, I call on the Government to prepare legislation or, if appropriate, a constitutional amendment to provide that future by-elections are triggered within three months of the death of a Deputy. We should not end up in this situation time and time again. It would be appropriate to provide for a three-month timeframe, thereby reassuring people that their constituencies will be represented by a full quota of Deputies in the future.

Fianna Fáil has been suggesting that the reason for the delay in arranging the Dublin Central by-election is the need to show respect for the late Tony Gregory. I do not agree that a by-election in the constituency in the near future would be too soon after Mr. Gregory's death. My former teacher would be rolling over in his grave if he could hear that. Tony Gregory would be the first person to demand that the seat be contested as soon as possible to ensure that the people of his area are not under-represented. Now is the time to move the writ. Fianna Fáil should be ashamed of itself for abusing Tony Gregory's name in this way. If it really cared about honouring his memory, it would call a by-election in Dublin Central immediately. This is a time of severe economic depression and it is essential that all of the people are properly represented in full in the Dáil. Thousands of families in each of these constituencies face an uncertain future of unemployment or negative equity or are on social housing lists. Many of those who have been recently made unemployed have waited months to get their social welfare payments and some are incurring massive debts while waiting. Meanwhile, this Government has done nothing to stimulate jobs which would help people in crisis. The views of those people need to be reflected fully in this Chamber. That is as true of Dublin South and Dublin Central as of every other constituency but is not the case in the two constituencies under discussion here because they do not have their full quota of Members in the House. I appeal to the Government to ensure it moves the writs for these by-elections at the earliest possible time and holds the elections. It has been given the opportunity to do this here today. The public already has an opportunity to go to the polls on 5 June. Rather than have two stand-alone by-elections which would cost the taxpayer a fortune, the Government has an opportunity to do the logical thing and hold both by-elections on the same day as council and European elections. Fianna Fáil's current popularity problems should not be taken into account. It is appropriate that these by-elections be held now. The time has lapsed for the writs to be moved.

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