Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for the Bill he has brought before us. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this short but extremely important Bill. I join with the Minister of State in complimenting the Constituency Commission, whose recommendations are now the focus of the Bill.

The commission had a difficult task and tried to bring a fair balance to the Bill. One of the issues it dealt with was the breaching of provincial boundaries and the constituency of Longford-Roscommon no longer exists. The Minister of State made the point that breaches of county boundaries still occur. Naturally there will be much disappointment that County Leitrim has been torn down the middle, and also with issues about Westmeath. I know the Minister of State was biting his tongue when he spoke because his county has also suffered from the changes and his old constituency has lost a seat.

The members of the commission are distinguished public officials who have given long service to the country and their integrity is certainly not in question. Perhaps the question of what other people would do can be asked. What would any of us do if we examined the revision of constituencies based on the last census? However regrettable, reviewing constituencies means winners and losers. I do not know why the commission recommended particular lay-outs of constituencies but it did so within its guidelines and constitutional remit. If one rejects a particular issue within the revision, the entire report is rejected. I read a transcript of the recent Dáil debate where the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, clearly stated the Government intends to accept the commission's reports.

I know from my time in the Dáil, and the Minister of State also referred to it, that governmental revisions of constituencies provoked much controversy. The late Kevin Boland was known for making certain changes when he was Minister with responsibility for local government. I remember when part of south Roscommon shared a three-seat constituency with north Galway and Fianna Fáil succeeded in getting two seats. On the other hand, the party lost a seat in Roscommon in 1973, which led to the election of a coalition Government. The late Jim Tully carried out what was affectionately known as the "Tullymander" for the 1977 election. I recall part of north Clare was put into a constituency with west Galway to create a four-seat constituency. The idea was that Fianna Fáil would get two seats while Fine Gael and the Labour Party would each get one. In fact, Fianna Fáil got three of the four seats, which is difficult to achieve. It shows how issues can rebound on the Government party even with gerrymandering or "Tullymandering".

It was no surprise when we decided a commission should do this work, firstly for the European elections in 1979 and the Dáil elections in 1981. I remember the late Jack Lynch discussing his disappointment at the changes made in County Cork for the 1981 election. I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, would express a similar opinion on the present situation in Cork.

We all agreed the commission should examine the constituencies and I am certain that not everybody will be pleased. I know my colleague, Senator Mooney, will have much to say on how these changes have affected Leitrim. Difficult choices were made as Senator Bannon pointed out. We are discussing the manner in which the guidelines are laid down and adherence to the Constitution. The constituencies are based on the figures from the census of 2002. I will briefly discuss the Electoral Act 1997 later.

We must enact this Bill before the next general election. I understand the existing constituencies are used if a by-election is held before that. While the number of constituencies to be increased by one seat did not surprise me, I was surprised by the Department's use of creative language in discussing a new constituency configuration in the north Connacht-north Leinster area. What the Department is really stating is that a seat was lost in the western region while the counties of Meath and Kildare got an extra seat. A seat was also lost in Cork. There is time, as Senator Bannon suggested, to implement the spatial strategy and examine development in the west. For many years we stated that losing Dáil seats in the west of Ireland will lead to difficulties in the future. It would be better to state directly that this is what is happening and not describe it as a new constituency configuration. Dublin will retain its 47 seats over 12 constituencies, but these have changed to three five-seat constituencies, five four-seat constituencies and four three-seat constituencies. I support Senator Bannon in his call to examine our spatial strategy and how we draw up constituencies in the western region in the future. It is hoped that we will not lose further seats.

The Bill clarifies what is allowed on electoral spending and that is welcome. Items such as free postage for candidates, normal media coverage, broadcasts on behalf of a candidate on radio and television and services provided free by an individual or by an employee of a political party are now not an issue in terms of expenses. The Kelly case, which arose during the last election, affected all candidates from all political parties. Some items were ridiculous, such as use of the car park at Leinster House. I do not understand why that was included. I would even suggest it should be looked at again in addition to the other areas I have mentioned.

On the west of Ireland issue, according to our Constitution we will now have three, four or five-seat constituencies. There has been a strong campaign by smaller parties for more five seat constituencies but I question the practicality of that in rural Ireland. The five-seat constituencies in counties Mayo and Galway, for example, are huge areas to cover and from the point of view of effective representation, it is clear that smaller constituencies are better in rural Ireland. I may not get the support of everybody on that view but certain problems exist in those areas and an argument could be made for three, three seat constituencies in Galway, for example. There appears to be some status attached to having a five-seat constituency in the west, with Galway city as the major city in that region, but I am aware from talking to the Deputies who represent that area, and those who used to represent Mayo when it was a five seater, it is difficult for them to serve that large area.

The issues on voting which Senator Bannon referred to are important and we hope to have a debate on that soon in terms of the register. Fine Gael has referred to using the PPS number as a good basis for the register. I suggested also that something similar to a census form could be given to a household to ensure people are included on that register.

I am happy to support what the commission has said. I do not agree with everything the commission does. We would all do things a little differently but as I said in the past, we let political parties do it and it has not worked out very well. Even though the political parties might have got it wrong on occasions and it might have rebounded in their faces, since the 1979 European elections the commission has examined the constituencies and despite the serious situation in Leitrim, I cannot see how we can make any changes now. The Minister has set out what the Government is doing and I hope the Minister of State will respond to the suggestions made by Senators.