Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

—— the necessary nuisance of the European elections. We should therefore not be surprised when the public expresses such little interest in the European elections when we do not give them the attention they deserve. The elections will be held in a few months time and this Bill will revise the constituencies and we must accept this for what it is worth.

I agree with both Senator Daly and Senator Ryan regarding the present constituencies. The scale of the constituencies makes it a joke to suggest that an MEP for any one of the new provincial areas is in effect a representative for all his or her constituents. If my former colleague in the Oireachtas, Councillor Taylor-Quinn, is fortunate enough to be selected in the new constituency, the scale of that constituency from where she lives in Kilrush up to the tip of north Donegal would make it impossible to adequately represent. The same applies to all candidates across the country.

The commission was instructed to come up with constituencies which would return three, four or five members. There was an opportunity on this occasion to examine the electoral system as a whole as it applies to the European elections. There was also an opportunity to use the European elections to examine the alternative systems of elections to the European Parliament. I would be surprised if in 20 or 25 years Deputies will be elected in multi-seat constituencies as I think we will have moved to single seat constituencies with the single transferable vote. It should have been decided on this occasion that the 13 MEPs representing the Republic of Ireland would be elected for single seat constituencies. Such one-seat constituencies, elected by proportional representation, are entirely fair and would bring the European project and European elections much closer to individual voters. How close is the elector of south-west Cork to the elector of north Tipperary? They are thrown into the same constituency and end up with the same representatives. I do not think the natural connection that should exist between the towns and territories is there. If we had smaller constituencies, returning individual members from individual constituencies, for example, the election would be much more real and much more local in the public mind.

I am disappointed because this Bill is making an unsatisfactory system even worse. Its provisions will increase the distance between the people and those who are supposed to represent them in the European Parliament. An opportunity has been lost. If we are all around five years from now, I hope we will discuss a new system of election to the European Parliament. I hope such a system will bring the electorate closer, geographically, to their representatives. This can be achieved by providing for single seat constituencies or a variation of the list system. The system that is being put in place is as bad as possible. The faults in the system will probably not be reflected in the turn out, however, as it is likely that between 48% and 52% of the electorate will vote in June. Most people who will go a polling station will do so to vote in the local elections. When voters have pressed the buttons on the machines that were given to us by the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, to choose who to elect to local authorities, they may hastily press some buttons for the European elections before they rush out of the polling station. It is disappointing that most people will give the European election campaign such little thought.

I would prefer if the European elections were held on a different day from the local elections. It is important that all politicians, particularly those from the main political parties, treat the European elections with the seriousness they deserve. Perhaps the European elections were a novelty in 1979, 1984 and 1989, but membership of the European Parliament is no longer a political novelty. It should not be seen as some sort of consolation prize or political rest home. Real decisions, which affect every member of the community and every citizen of this island, are taken at the European Parliament. The elections deserve to be seriously considered by the political parties. I suspect that the European election campaign will not feature very highly in political discourse between now and June, as has traditionally been the case. Most political attention in towns and townlands will be given to the local elections.

We have failed to change the electoral system for the European elections. We have not changed the European constituencies in a meaningful way. We are giving a second-rate level of attention to the European election campaign. I hope we can combine, in a non-party political fashion, to sell to the public the importance of voting in the European elections. It is not our political responsibility to sell the concept of voting in local elections. Everybody is connected with the local authority elections in some way, as friends, neighbours or parishioners are involved in local politics to some degree. We need a strong national advertising campaign, which is not party political, to explain to the people the importance of the European Parliament and the need to vote in the European elections. I appreciate that there will be a national advertising campaign in respect of electronic voting, but a separate budget should be set aside to sell, to the maximum degree, the importance of European politics and the European elections. We should encourage people to participate in the European elections campaign, rather than casting their vote as an afterthought.

I have given my confused and meandering thoughts on this issue. I hope we will examine the system of electing Irish Members of the European Parliament when we have the time to do so over the next few years. I ask the Minister to re-examine the constituencies and to give the commission different instructions in that regard. It should be free to bring about a radical alternative to the existing four constituencies, which are geographically challenging. The current constituencies are designed to ensure that citizens are removed from their European representatives, rather than involved in the European process.