John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate that I have written to the chairman requesting views not just from them but also from management and councillors in Wexford. More than half of the new Kilmuckridge area was previously in the Gorey district and there have been nine or ten changes to municipal districts across the country. Most of them are in respect of former boroughs, but, for instance, in County Kerry the Castleisland area and the Dingle area have been brought into one municipal district because of geographical factors similar to what was considered in Wexford. I am not disputing my role in ensuring we will have municipal districts that, rightly or wrongly, are more reflective of the lie of the land. The Deputy will know the villages and towns that anyone could list off in the northern part of the Kilmuckridge area that are far closer to Gorey. The process is that if there are strong reasons for a change in Wexford, I will have no difficulty in accepting them. However, I absolutely refute and believe it is disingenuous of the Deputy to bring into the House the argument about the independence of the electoral committee. We are not talking about an electoral boundary. The local electoral areas report was adopted in full. This is an administrative linking of two separate local electoral areas, whether it be Gorey and Kilmuckridge or Enniscorthy and Kilmuckridge. The independence of the committee's actions and the preserving of people's support for the independence of the committee's report should not be called into question. As I said, we are not talking about an electoral boundary. Any murky past about electoral boundaries, Tullymandering and everything else that happened has no bearing on this issue. It is about administering County Wexford. More than half of the new Kilmuckridge district was previously in the Gorey area. That is from where the decision came. That east coast part of Wexford, north of the town, is more associated with Gorey than any other town in County Wexford. If the Wexford local authority and its members and management have a strong view that it should be changed, it will be. I reiterate that the report of the committee on the electoral areas was adopted in full.

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