Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I add to what Senator Ellis said and speak to the Bill in general. I do not doubt the independence of the commission as it is recommended in the Bill. My party takes the view that each individual on the commission is totally independent and is entitled to be on the commission. A section of the Bill refers to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and the staff who will assist the commission in its work. It is very important that this facility is available to the commission. The director general of the CSO and the chief executive officer of Ordnance Survey Ireland, OSI, will assist the commission in reaching its recommendations on Dáil and European Parliament constituencies. I wonder what level of engagement might have happened heretofore with those two agencies, the CSO and the OSI, and whether there was real engagement with them in the commission arriving at its recommendations. I hope there was.

This Bill refers to the fundamentals of our democracy. It deals specifically with constituencies, whether Dáil or European Parliament, and the numbers and demographics in those constituencies. It is important that the information the commission uses is fully up to date and endorsed by the agencies responsible for those statistics. I have not read the report but I wonder if it makes specific mention of engagement with those agencies, the CSO and OSI. If so, will the Minister comment on the extent of that engagement and the advice the agencies might have given to the commission? That is an important point regarding having accurate information for any recommendations or reports by the commission. The information and levels of engagement by those agencies should be clear and transparent.