Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

If the election is held earlier, this debate would not be pertinent. If the election is held in May 2007, we will at best have the preliminary report from the 2006 census. Two documents will be published. The preliminary report was mentioned in The Sunday Tribune article, which, while I queried some of the issues raised therein, represented a good piece of journalism.

The preliminary report has no legal status. The argument has been made that, as the difference between the preliminary census report for the whole country and the final report which is published as volume 1 is only a couple of hundred people, it does not matter. However, it does matter because one must, if going before a commission on constituency revision which has legal status and addresses a constitutional issue, present the final version of the document. One cannot present the preliminary document.

Practical reasons exist for this. When the commission considers the data it possesses to draw up new constituency boundaries, it has to descend through electoral divisions as far as the smallest electoral unit. The variances between the preliminary and the final report may be found there. While the difference between the overall population figures contained in the preliminary and the final statutory reports may be 400 or fewer, the variations at the micro-level may be substantial. As Members know, a handful of votes may make all the difference on election day. It is better to get the registration right than to face that circumstance.

Will there be a legal challenge? Who can say? People with deep pockets can challenge anything. We have to make certain, when drafting this legislation, that we operate to the best of faith within constitutional case law. This law is based on the opinion of Mr. Justice Budd and subsequent Supreme Court judgments. Preceding Mr. Justice Budd's 1961 judgment is a discussion of the output that the census should use. The judge makes it clear — this is where constitutional case law arises — that one should operate based on the final and complete report rather than the preliminary one. I thank Senator Browne for presenting me the opportunity to address that issue in this House.