Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It does not work at a local level. People feel somewhat disenfranchised as a result of what is being done.

As regards council boundaries, people will have different Deputies and councillors. There is much confusion in terms of who to support or who is one's representative. Although all Deputies will represent their constituents as best they can, county boundaries are important. Some 18 constituencies are untouched but Galway East has once again been badly affected. We supported and propped up Roscommon in 2011 and we are now giving it more of our good people and propping it up further. I do not understand why Galway East is to lose over 8,500 voters, as is Roscommon-Galway to Sligo-Leitrim, while 4,500 voters are to be transferred to Galway East from Galway West. That appears to be gerrymandering for the sake of it. There must be an easier way to redraw constituencies. I suggested that if the commission did not want to leave the constituencies of Mayo and Galway East as they were, then perhaps four seats should have been allocated to each. That may not have been the most popular measure but it would have kept the county intact, which is very important. County councillors also have concerns as to what will happen to council boundaries because they need to know how their bases will be affected and whether there will be a predominance of city voters or otherwise in their areas. From a rural perspective, a fair balance is needed. Fianna Fáil will be supporting the Bill and I will also reluctantly do so.

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