Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and compliment him as being one of the few Ministers who appears in the House when legislation relating to his or her Department is being taken. As he outlined, the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011 contains three important electoral reforms. It amends the terms of reference of a Constituency Commission in section 6(2)(a) of the Electoral Act 1997 by providing that the number of Members of the Dáil, subject to the relevant provisions of the Constitution - I will come back to this - shall not be fewer than 153 and not more than 160. It also provides for the amendment to be made to section 39(2) of the Electoral Act 1992 to provide that the writ for a Dail by-election shall be issued within six months of the vacancy occurring. In addition, it provides for amendments to the Electoral Act 1997 to provide for a reduction in the spending limit at a presidential election from €1,300,000 to €750,000 and for a reduction in the maximum amount that can be reimbursed to a candidate at a presidential election from €260,000 to €200,000.

The Minister in his speech stated that the Government wished to reduce the size and cost of Government and the programme for Government has identified a "clear need for our political system to embrace change, share the burden and lead by example". He went on to state, under the heading Political Reform, that change must start at the top. I fully agree with that. The programme for Government states that "the political system cannot ask others to change and make sacrifices if it is not prepared to do the same". I also agree with that.

The Minister also stated that a number of commitments have been made in the programme, including one to reduce significantly the size of the Oireachtas and to reduce the number of Deputies, following the publication of the 2011 Census of Population. However, what the Minister did not say is that the Fine Gael manifesto stated clearly that Fine Gael in Government would reduce the number of Deputies by 20. This was a populist and cynical proposal which, by virtue of what the Minister has said here today, the Fine Gael Party had no intention of carrying out. It also, of course, said that they would reduce the numbers of Ministers of State, which clearly did not happen. Now the Minister proposes to reduce Dáil membership to between 153 and 160, depending on what the commission recommends.

I ask the Minister why the Government is not proposing to hold a referendum to reduce the number of Deputies by 20, as Fine Gael committed to do in its election manifesto. The census results that were published on 30 June indicate that our population now stands at 4.5 million, an increase of 400,000 when compared with census 2006, which recorded Ireland's population at over 4.2 million. Census 2006 confirmed that for the first time, our population rose above 4 million people since 1871.

My party is not in favour of reducing the number of Deputies and we will be opposing this measure. We proposed, during the general election, a total reform package, not a piecemeal approach. We proposed a single-seat constituency arrangement, supplemented by a list system which allowed for gender balance. We also proposed an idea whereby if a member of the Dáil was asked to serve in Government an alternate would be placed to do his or her work as a Deputy.

We have a very different system of governance in this country. Our electorate, as the Minister is well aware, expect to meet their Deputies and Senators on a regular basis. Deputies must hold multiple constituency clinics on a weekly basis and the electorate expect them to be there. In England, our closest neighbour, Members of Parliament are elected to single seat constituencies. Constituents are lucky if their MP visits the constituency once a month, I believe the average is about six times a year. That system would not work in this country.

We need to reform local Government and give councillors back the powers the Oireachtas has taken from them. My party is as guilty of that as any other. I believe political reform should start with local government. Is the Minister proposing to reduce the number of county and city councillors to be elected at the next local government election? If the answer is "Yes", my party will oppose that.

What are the terms of reference of the constituency commission? I refer in particular to county boundaries. The last commission was asked to adhere to county boundaries where possible and practical. This resulted in County Leitrim being divided. West Limerick is now part of Limerick and another part of Limerick went into Kerry North. Other counties were also affected, such as south Offaly, east Carlow and north Waterford.

The terms of reference should be changed in this regard and the commission should adhere to county boundaries. There should be positive discrimination towards rural Ireland and we should look at four, five and even six seat constituencies where practical.

I understand that the make-up of the commission is a judge, to be nominated by the Chief Justice, who will chair the commission, the Clerk of the Dáil, the Clerk of the Seanad, the Ombudsman and the Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Why is it necessary to have the Secretary General on this commission? I suggest that there should be two independent members appointed - I could furnish the Minister with a few names - and that the Secretary General should not be a member.

I welcome the amendment to the Electoral Act 1992 relating to the holding of Dáil by-elections. The proposed amendment will ensure that a by-election to fill a vacancy in the Dáil has to be moved within six months of the vacancy arising. Throughout the decades, my party, the Minister's party and others have been responsible for delaying by-elections when it suited us. I very much welcome this measure and I will fully support it. The Minister referred to the court case that preceded the Donegal South-West by-election. Is the Government persisting in appealing the High Court decision regarding the holding of the Donegal South-West by-election to the Supreme Court, in light of the proposed legislation?

I welcome the proposal to reduce the spending limits and the amount of expenses that can be reimbursed to a candidate at a presidential election. The Minister is proposing to reduce the maximum amount that can be reimbursed by the Exchequer to a presidential candidate from €260,000 to €200,000 and the spending limit from €1.3 million to €750,000. I would propose reducing the figures to €150,000 and €500,000 respectively.

We will be tabling a number of amendments on Committee Stage. They will be practical and I hope the Minister will consider them. We will not oppose Second Stage because the Bill contains a number of measures with which we agree.