Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We in this House should be cognisant of the fact that the people on this commission have never got a vote in their lives. I honestly believe that former practising politicians should sit on the commission. There is no point in saying nowadays that east Cavan or west Cavan is a great Fianna Fáil area, a great Fine Gael area or a great Sinn Féin area. That is gone now because we know from the results of recent elections that things have changed dramatically. A good case could be made for very distinguished former Members of this House from the main parties as well as Independents serving on the commission. If there had been a former practising politician on the commission in 2012, he or she would never have signed off on the configuration of south Donegal, all of Sligo-Leitrim and west and south Cavan. My colleagues, Deputies Eugene Murphy, Anne Rabbitte and Marc MacSharry made the point in the part of the debate that I have heard that it is a total injustice to so many communities. I am very happy that all of Cavan is back with all of County Monaghan. We have seven electoral divisions coming in from the Meath East constituency, and the people living in those electoral divisions are quite rightly very unhappy. We fully understand that and while the commission had to consider things in general, it did not need to move the people in east Meath into Cavan. I think there was a wrong reading of the tolerance level.

I made a detailed submission to the commission at the time. This time last year, I was preparing it and, unfortunately, one of my best friends in politics, Brendan Reilly from Ballyjamesduff, who did much of the drafting of my submission, specifically the work on the figures and so on, was killed two weeks ago in a car accident. He was a great and very close friend of mine, and I wish to record the contribution he made to the submission that I submitted to the commission at the time.

Article 16.2.2° of the Constitution sets out 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." Of Article 16.2.2°, the submission states:

This gives the Commission some scope to give adequate and due tolerance to recognise the particular pressures on rural constituencies vis-à-vis representation and adherence to the population per Dáil Member. The present Cavan/Monaghan constituency [as it is at present] is a totally rural region, yet it is 3.18% above the average ratio. [The constituencies that were meant to be above the average ratio were the urban constituencies, not the very rural constituencies.] This is leaving an area with very specific social and economic problems both underrepresented and badly divided.

The 5% deviation from the national average is only implied and is by no means set in stone.

Greater latitude in deviating from the national average, as established by previous Commissions prior to the 2012 Commission, would give the necessary flexibility to reverse the extreme impact of the 2012 revision where [unexpectedly] four counties ended up in the one constituency[, the first time ever in the history of the State this has happened]. From the Commission's own Statement on Relevant Provisions - while the reference to Justice Clarke's judgement leans towards a deviation from the national average lower than 5%, - it is important to note that the Supreme Court clearly studiously avoids setting any such limit and ruled as quoted in the Commission's statement:The problem of what is practicable is primarily one for the Oireachtas, whose members have knowledge of the problems and difficulties to be solved which this Court cannot have. Its decision could not be reviewed by this Court unless there is a manifest infringement of the Article. This Court cannot, as is suggested, lay down a figure above or below which a variation from what is called the national average is not permitted.

Commissions in the past allowed a deviation of approximately 5%. It is provided for in the Constitution. I urge the Minister of State to change this, as my colleague, Deputy Marc MacSharry said, in order that we do not disenfranchise large parts of rural communities.

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