Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

That is not good from the point of view of a candidate or an elected representative, but it is the best way of dealing with it. Having a larger constituency with more seats ensures the minority view will get heard and, one hopes, be represented in Parliament while ensuring at the same time that the majority view is returned in enough numbers to form a Government. The issue of six-seat or seven-seat constituencies is something we should look at.

I would like to hear the Minister's views on a constitutional change. The 30,000 person limit in the Constitution is something that probably needs to be changed. It is likely that this limit will have to be amended in the coming months or years ahead. We should do it now. It is something that was developed a long time ago and it puts too many constraints on the commission. While constituencies should be broadly in line with each other with each TD representing so many constituents, because of the population growth in the State, it is placing too many constraints on the constituency commission which results in our dividing, dissecting and putting pieces of counties here, there and everywhere. Other Deputies have referred to people's identity, their association with their county and the identity we have with our parish which stems from the Gaelic Athletic Association. Everyone likes to wear their county jersey but in future some Deputies may have to wear three or four jerseys and that would be awkward for them. I am keen to hear the arguments in this regard.

My argument against cutting the number of Deputies is simply because I am not convinced it will make the House any better. I accept there is an issue in respect of what happens to backbenchers. Last week, I listened to a maiden speech given by a Deputy some four months after the election. It was a good speech and the Deputy had a good deal of knowledge on the issue before the House. This shows up a real issue: what is a backbencher to do? What does a person do who is part of a larger party in which, generally, the speaking time is divided between the Front Bench and Ministers of State? These people do not have the option or chance to get involved in the legislation although they may wish to get involved in the nuts and bolts of it but cannot because of these constraints. There are ways to deal with this through reform of the committees, some of which is underway. Other changes need to take place within the House. People are constrained under Standing Orders in respect of the type of questioning in which they can engage.

I wish to advert to several other things not included in the legislation. I call on the Minister to examine one issue of concern to me in respect of which someone might end up going to the High Court if it is repeated in future. At the last election, people were denied their vote because of the rules. People from many of the islands vote on a different day from the mainland. I refer to the example of Arranmore Island off the coast of Donegal. A person working on Arranmore Island but away from home would not be there to cast his or her vote on election day and should be entitled under legislation to a postal vote because he or she is working away from home. The vote should be stamped from the employer or, if the person is self employed, he or she fills in the appropriate form. A problem arose at the last election in the case of a person working away from home on the island. A person was unable to fill in the required form because the form had to be with the local authority, in this case Donegal County Council, before a certain date. The person had to indicate on the form that he or she would be working away from home on the date of the election. However, the election date was not set until after the deadline for the postal vote form. This is a real issue and there are several ways to address it. I sent an appeal on radio for someone to come forward and go to the High Court but no one has come forward so far.

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