Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a massive honour and we are following in huge footsteps. One of the logistical issues with regard to Kerry relates to the number of peninsulas in the county, which makes travelling even more difficult. I recently spent an afternoon in Caherdaniel making house calls and was then obliged to travel to Listowel, a drive of almost two hours, to deal with other business before spending a further hour driving home that night. That was on a regular day. The Bill would see to it that Kerry would retain its five Deputies but they would instead represent five single-seat constituencies. The position would be the same with regard to every other county. That would be a better way of doing business.

The Bill also has other merits. I am aware that the Government has a busy schedule of planned referenda but I am of the view that the Bill is worthy of debate in the House. I am not proposing the introduction of a first-past-the-post system similar to that which obtains in the UK. Again, the system used for by-elections and Presidential elections would come into play and minority groups would still have the opportunity to be represented. A wide variety of representatives were elected to the House as a result of a number of recent by-elections and there is an argument to be made that what is proposed would favour the larger parties. That is not quite the case. I hope we will have the opportunity to debate the various issues on Second Stage.

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