Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

Does this Parliament need to reduce the cost of doing its business? Without question, it does. All of us said to the public that the cost of running Parliament must be reduced, and that the public is entitled to see better value for the money it spends on their Parliament. Does the nation need less democracy? No, it most assuredly does not. The mistake in the Bill is the confused and confusing view that to have better value for money and a reduction in the cost of Parliament, we must have a reduction in the number of Deputies. That is a simplistic proposal and it will not have the desired effect. I acknowledge that we need to reduce costs but we certainly do not need less democracy in this country. When I made my maiden speech in this House, I was almost an extinct species as a Deputy who happens to live in County Leitrim. People do not understand the total population of County Leitrim is approximately equal to the average population per Deputy. When a Government or a commission splits that county down the middle, it becomes virtually impossible for a person living in either of the two parts of a now divided and weakened county to be elected to the Dáil. The Taoiseach kindly described me as the exception who proves the rule but my election does not right the wrong visited on the people of Leitrim. I see nothing in this Bill that would right that wrong.

The Minister referred to "avoiding the breaching of county boundaries as far as practicable, ensuring each constituency returns three, four or five Members and endeavouring to maintain continuity in relation to the arrangement of constituencies". However, the terms of reference of the Constituency Commission, which is set out in the Electoral Act 1997, state: "the breaching of county boundaries shall be avoided as far as practicable". In 2010, the Joint Committee on the Constitution recommended: "in drawing constituencies according to the required representation ratio, due regard be had to natural and/or county boundaries". It is recognised that the breaching of county boundaries causes problems for Members, candidates and voters. Both politicians and political scientists have pointed out problems such as electoral alienation and low turnout. I do not see anything in the Bill that would result in significant changes to this. I hope I am wrong but I will seek to beef up the provision that breaches of county boundaries shall be avoided as far as practicable.

We speak about three, four and five-seat constituencies as if there is something inherently wrong with six-seat constituencies. We should not tie the commission's hands by recommending smaller constituencies. There is nothing illegal, unethical or inherently wrong about six-seat constituencies and, if they offer commission members a fairer alternative to arranging the distribution of constituencies, why should we restrict them? Our aim should be to make it easy for commission members to do the right thing by ensuring each county has at least one representative in order that we can strengthen democracy in this island.

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