Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I recall when I was elected in 1975 for the first time that it was with the help of the people of south Roscommon. I was most grateful for their support. People to whom I have spoken in Roscommon reminded me that not only was south Roscommon included with Leitrim in the past, but it was also included with Longford, which necessitated the breach of a provincial boundary. That is not the way to go. Breaching a provincial boundary is worse than breaching a county boundary. It is not fair to make such changes. Neither is it fair when one considers the reduced representation from the combined loss of seats in constituencies covering Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.

In terms of local government representation, at one extreme, one has a large number of councillors per head of population in France. In this country, following the introduction of the new proposals we will probably have councillors representing a greater proportion of the population. We do not yet have the constituencies for local authorities. I accept there is talk of extra county councillors, but I will leave that to one side for the moment.

I am concerned at the increasingly reduced voter turnout at every election. I visited Belfast recently as a member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. We met in particular those from the Unionist tradition – people who feel they are abandoned and isolated and devoid of local representation. There are many reasons for that. One might be that we do not have enough people standing for election, but also people have difficulty in trying to get their message across.

I do not agree with the abolition of town councils. Deputy Stanton referred to the role of the mayor in his local area, which is also an important position. I accept that my party proposed a reduction in the number of vocational education committees and the Government proceeded with that. One could ask why counties are being amalgamated in that regard. Yesterday, we heard from Leader programmes from the west in particular and local partnerships in urban areas. They suggested that they might be losing out on funding. Such bodies deal with local people.

We set up a commission and we would all welcome amendments to it. I am not sure about the direction in which we are going. Previously, we tried to take a political approach involving Ministers setting political boundaries. The commission has come up with proposals. The decision to reduce the number of Deputies has led to a breach of boundaries. In the overall operation of democracy in this country I wonder whether we are going the right way because we do not have the same level of engagement with people as heretofore. I am concerned that if we continue in the same direction and reduce the number of councillors as well, people will feel more abandoned and isolated, which would not be good for democracy.

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