Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

That is what friends are for.

I wish to take up one of the points made by Deputy Ross regarding the composition of the constituency commission. Reference was made to section 1 of the Electoral Act 1997 and I wish to comment on the membership of the commission. I am not that familiar with the Bible - Deputy Ross may be more familiar with it - but the issue reminds me of the parable on finding one honest man; it seems it is almost impossible to get somebody to be a member of anything in this country who is not above reproach. In the past I expressed concern about the Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government being a member of the commission, not because of the individual in question. What I said while in opposition I will say while in government: the suggestion of political interference can be made because the Department offers secretarial back-up to the commission. My understanding is that the Department presents various options to the commission. The Minister should examine the issue with a view to considering the type of electoral commission discussed in the past, or even the Standards in Public Office Commission assuming the role. I would like to see in the the report the details of submissions or various options presented by the Department or others. We would then be able to see the reasoning behind the process.

Much reference has been made to the breaching of county boundaries and taking geography into account. In many instances people in one county may have greater empathy with others in a neighbouring county than in their own. Deputy Ross is smiling at that suggestion. However, the constituency commission should have regard to the need for continuity. There is a small part of County Carlow in my constituency and I made the point after it had been included in the constituency of Wicklow, that the turn-out in that part of County Carlow increased because the people there had a greater association with their new constituency. At the same time the turn-out decreased in the constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny.

I would like to see the Minister dealing with a couple of other issues in the Bill, including a problem that has been ongoing for decades. Could we, please, adopt a common-sense approach to the register of electors? How does one explain the system to a family in public housing when members are knocked off the register on polling day? It is crazy that there is no interaction between the various bodies involved, but with a little common sense, we could get it right.

I abhor the concept of posters appearing all over a constituency. We should consider the idea of having a defined area in each constituency in which a number of posters could be put up.

The main issue in the legislation is the reduction in the number of Deputies in the Dáil. I made the point a few years ago that if the population imbalance continued, the eastern seaboard would have all of the representatives, while the western seaboard would, relatively speaking, be devoid of Deputies. I made a case - to my detriment - that geography should be considered. At the time in an editorial in the Evening Herald I was referred to as a nut who wanted two culchies for every Dub in the Dáil. We must consider this issue. It is likely that Donegal and Kerry will be five-seat constituencies, whereas in travelling five or ten minutes either away in Deputy Ross's or Deputy Mitchell's constituency, one will cover the lot.

There may not be a need for as many Deputies in the future. I do not know if anybody read the article in The Sunday Times in which it was indicated that politicians could be fined €5,000 for every unsolicited text, e-mail or telephone call made to members of the public, following the signing of statutory instruments by the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, last week. The Data Protection Commissioner has indicated that there will shortly be contact with political parties to explain that only electronic contact with members of the public who have consented to be on text, e-mail and telephone lists is permissible. We may reach a point where we will not be allowed to contact members of the public at all, which would mean there might be no need for a many of us. This is crazy.

We should limit spending between elections, not just at election time. We also should limit the amount of money politicians and parties can spend in promoting themselves between elections.

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