Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To break up counties in some form of geopolitical jigsaw will lead to duplicating and frustration. I make the point that the Minister has the chance to make some shape to Dáil and local government boundaries. He should try to have some correlation between the two. While the Minister may not admit this to me, when he thinks about it later he will be able to see the sense of it. This view is reinforced in the terms of reference of the Constituency Commission. According to those terms of reference, breaching county boundaries is to be avoided as a far as practicable. However, the Bill provides that 22 out of 40 constituency boundaries will breach county boundaries. More than half the constituencies proposed breach the terms of reference. Both politicians and political scientists have recognised the problems that breaching county boundaries cause, such as voter alienation and low turnout. This was evident recently.

Moreover, five constituencies will now be in breach of the Constitution. Article 16.2.2° of Bunreacht na hÉireann states that "the total number of members of Dáil Éireann shall not be fixed at less than one member for each thirty thousand of the population, or at more than one member for each twenty thousand of the population". However, Cavan-Monaghan, Donegal, Dublin North-West, Galway West and Mayo each will have more than 30,000 people per Deputy.

The programme for Government made a commitment to reduce the number of Deputies with the objective of reducing the cost and size of government. While I will not argue with reducing the cost, the present Administration reckons it can save €2.2 million by reducing the Dáil membership to 158 Deputies. However, if one was simply to reduce democracy to a cost-saving measure, one's arguments are fundamentally flawed, as reducing the number of Deputies will only serve to concentrate power around the larger parties to the exclusion of Independents, smaller parties and women. If one wishes to focus on cost savings, one could simply introduce a measure to cap the pay of public servants for three years, which would save hundreds of millions of euro. A cap on city and county managers' pay at €100,000 for three years would save €1.46 million, while a cap on hospital consultants' pay at €150,000 for three years would save €1.6 million.

Sinn Féin is committed to introducing savings and let us start with the people in this Chamber. I propose that the number of Deputies be kept at 166 and that ministerial salaries be cut to €100,000 and those of Deputies and Senators to €75,000 and €60,000, respectively. This would save €4.3 million and these proposals would save more than the Government is proposing in this Bill by merely cutting numbers. I reiterate that one should cut the costs and not the number of Deputies.

The reduction in the number of Deputies also will serve to undermine the Government's own Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act passed earlier this year. One of the main aims of that legislation was to increase the number of women elected to the Dáil. However, as political analysts will concur, the reduction in the total number of seats in the Dáil means there will be fewer opportunities for women to win seats. Larger constituencies are considered to be better for the election of women candidates but the Bill before Members maintains only 11 five-seat constituencies.

In conclusion, this Bill is important and has implications for democracy and inclusivity. Sinn Féin Members intend to table a number of amendments on Committee Stage in an attempt to strengthen democracy, accountability and inclusivity in the structures of government in this State.

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