Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

The unique relationship between the elected representative in Ireland and the citizen is part of our political culture. Most of the academic literature on this would argue that it is negative, but I find it very positive. It helps to mediate between the citizen and the State, humanising that relationship. It is obviously not possible in the context of this Bill to make the change, since this deals only with the current situation.

However, if Senator Bannon were here, I would point out that we would have to think long and hard about any future course of action. We had very large constituencies here at one time, and the argument has been made again in the context of the six-seater constituencies and of the Good Friday Agreement regarding Northern Ireland. Frankly, that argument is not valid, since we must administer and govern that part of the national territory currently within our jurisdiction. Second, any objective person will recognise that the arrangements that resulted from the Good Friday Agreement emerged from a very specific set of circumstances in the North of Ireland which thankfully do not apply here and have not done so for a long time.

On the issue of the number of three-seaters, there have been many observations. I do not think that it was the point that Senator McDowell was making, but there have been plenty of precedents in the past where we have had more three-seaters than currently. We will never achieve perfection on this issue, but the disposition and the arrangements that we have in place allow an apolitical, non-partisan, independent group to draw the constituency boundaries. That is as good an arrangement as we will get.

We have all had our fingers burnt in the past when there was political manipulation of electoral boundaries. I saw a study of the situation in California, which was quite disgraceful, and I would not like us to return to that. We should live with the commission and accept what it says. If we were to go down the route of larger constituencies, we should think long and hard about it. It is very interesting that Senator McDowell was arguing for a different mix of constituencies that would recognise the territory to be covered, a different issue from the subject matter of the amendment.