Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

In Cavan, 25 councillors represent 60,000 people, while six councillors represent 65,000 people in a part of Dublin, which is four times the ratio of councillor to population. That is probably not the way we should be operating as a democracy, so the Minister and the Minister of State should look at that again.

I have been calling for reform of the Senate on numerous occasions, but one of the implications of having more councillors from Leitrim and Cavan is that there is a greater likelihood that candidates from those areas are elected to the Senate, when compared to Senators from Dublin. Therefore, this anomaly does not just impact on council constituents in south Dublin, but it also means that when electing Members to this House, candidates from rural backwaters — not that Cavan is a backwater — such as Cavan or Leitrim have a higher chance of being elected to the Senate than the poor Senate candidate from the Dublin region.