Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I agree with Senator Coffey about balanced regional development. He seems to be calling for a system of representation like the Senate system in the United States whereby there are two Senators from every state, regardless of the size of the state. That might be worth considering.

I am not from Dublin but I am from within the Pale. There are anomalies at county council level of which the Minister is probably well aware and on which he needs to act. There is an imbalance between county councillors in Dublin and the numbers they represent and those in places such as Senator Ellis's home, Leitrim. I had the pleasure of spending time last night with Councillor Dermot Lacey, one of my party's candidates in the south of the city in the forthcoming local election. He is in a six-seat ward, around Rathmines and Ranelagh where the population is approximately 65,000. That is the size of a Dáil constituency but with twice the number of representatives. Each councillor is almost like a super-councillor or a semi-Deputy. A total of 28 people represent Leitrim which probably has a similar population. Senator Wilson can tell us the population of Cavan but it is probably approximately 60,000.