Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minster of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, to the House. The Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005 is important because it will decide the fates of many Members of the Oireachtas, particularly those in the Lower House, in the next general election. The people of County Leitrim have rebelled in light of certain concerns. As the last remaining Oireachtas Member for the Roscommon-South Leitrim constituency from the 1977 period, I wish to say that we gave the people of that area a very good service. The Deputies elected in 1973 were the late Pat Joe Reynolds, Mrs. Joan Burke and Dr. Hugh Gibbons. After the 1977 election, the late Seán Doherty, Joan Burke and I were the three Deputies for Roscommon-South Leitrim and we served the constituency extremely well. I held clinics throughout south Leitrim, in Ballinamore, Mohill and surrounding areas. Deputies elected to that constituency believed it a priority to serve that area in order to ensure the people there did not feel disenfranchised. It was in 1977 also that Deputy Ellis was elected to this House, as was Pat Joe Reynolds, and both served the people of south Leitrim.

In 1981, a constituency change meant County Roscommon was now part of Roscommon-East Galway, encompassing some of what is now Senator Kitt's constituency. This was a natural constituency boundary particularly because it accommodated my electoral base.