Results 6,261-6,280 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: ——if they assigned me the same courtesy. They shredded the personalities of good people and it was a disgraceful performance.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: The Bill contains rules that were put before us by distinguished personnel whose independence and integrity are beyond question. It is a scandal to suggest otherwise. I welcome the acknowledgement of the integrity of the commission, which was evident in the contributions of Deputies O'Dowd, Gilmore, Curran, Cuffe and many others. I consider suggestions to the contrary to be totally unacceptable.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Deputy Cowley's claim that the commission was involved in political gerrymandering — he used those words — is a disgrace. It is offensive and he should withdraw that slur on the character of good people. I am surprised that Deputy Harkin found anything to support in Deputy Cowley's statement. I recognise her as a politician who likes to deal with issues rather than personalities.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Deputy Cowley accused the members of the commission, who do not have a voice in this House, of political gerrymandering. I have a responsibility to protect those people and I will do so. Having said all that, I do not see that it is our role, on this side of the House, to defend the recommendations of the commission without equivocation. Naturally, Deputies will have feelings about different...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Unlike Deputy Cowley, Deputy Ellis did not come into the House and traduce the character of members of the commission.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: You certainly did. You got your opportunity and you used the words——

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: He used the words "political gerrymandering" to describe the work of the commission. That is a disgraceful slur on an identifiable group of individuals who served this House and this country. He should withdraw those remarks.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: I can see that the commission had no option but to recommend some changes in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency, as the -11.01% variance below the national average representation of its 2002 population to seats ratio is more than 3% greater than the largest variance recommended by the commission in the history of the State. In other words, this is because of the political and demographic...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: It is not a disgrace.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: It is a statistical reality. Just because it does not suit the Deputy does not make it undemocratic. The Deputy is being undemocratic.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Seats follow population trends and that is a requirement of our Constitution. Voters in all parts of the country should be treated equally. The commission dealt with the only constituencies in the country to lose population by recommending the removal of a seat from one and a boundary adjustment with the other two to make all three viable. Action had to be taken and that is what the...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Our Constitution clearly envisages——

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: ——that three-seat constituencies comply with the principle of proportional representation. Subsection 5 of Article 16.2 provides that members shall be elected in the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. This is followed by the provision that no law shall be enacted whereby the members to be returned in a constituency shall be less than three....

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: ——in four constituency revisions in the past. I shall restate that because there has been an attempt to filibuster me and shout me down. On four separate occasions in the past there have been more three-seaters than under this report. I am sorry, it is virtually impossible to hear myself.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: The PR-STV system has never claimed to achieve perfectly proportional results. Several proportional representation systems are more proportional, others much less so. For PR-STV to be perfectly proportional, the State would need to form a single constituency. Everybody recognises that this is not a practical suggestion. Constituency size in Ireland has been restricted to three, four and five...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: I will make the point again. Simply because this does not suit one single Deputy, the practice that has been accepted for years should not be stood on its head.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: I am delighted the Deputy is now interested in the people because when they referred to the peace process in the referendum a few years ago, the Deputy was not exactly lining up to go ahead with them.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Deputies raised issues surrounding section 6

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Deputy O'Dowd referred to the position of MEPs elected in June. I have noted his points and will come back to what he said but I do not share the views he put forward. The Standards in Public Office Commission, the body charged by the Oireachtas with administering and implementing the regulations, has brought to attention an anomaly which is being corrected. I stress again the Government's...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Referral to Select Committee. (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on the Environment and Local Government, in accordance with Standing Order 120(1) and paragraph 1(a)(i) of the Orders of Reference of that committee.