Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

Much of this debate is the reaction to a populist view. I could not help but be amused by, and agree with, my good friend and colleague, the Minister of State, when he talked about the man sitting in the bar who did not vote but was propounding on the issues of the day and criticising the elected Member. Over the past number of months, in the course of attempting to introduce valid electoral reform, the Government has been sidetracked by political spin doctors who suggest that reducing the number of Deputies, abolishing the Seanad, reforming and reducing local government and other populist views will lead to an overwhelming response from the great and the good, including the man sitting in the bar in Ballinacarrigy. He will rise up and note what a wonderful democracy and a great republic we live in now that half of the Deputies are gone, the entire Seanad has been reduced to rubble and local authorities are being dismantled. We will have nirvana, the new Jerusalem and utopia when it is all put together. That is where the Opposition is coming from and our friends and colleagues in all political endeavours in both Houses would not disagree with the broad thrust of what I am saying.

I acknowledge the help of the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. Later, I will speak on the boundaries. I refer to an article entitled Revising Dáil Constituency Boundaries: Ireland in Comparative Perspective, in Administration, 55(3) 2007, by John Coakley, associate professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, UCD, which states:

For voters, being moved from one constituency to another is potentially confusing and disconcerting and may rupture long-standing ties with the community to which people are attached. This article argues that the political turmoil, popular upset and considerable expense (in time and money) that have been associated with the process of constituency boundary revision since the early years of the state have been unnecessary.

It raises the question of whether there is a need for a constituency boundary. He goes on to say "The Irish approach to constituency boundary delimitation is an example of Irish 'exceptionalism': an eccentric Irish solution to a problem that is not Irish, but universal in the world of proportional representation - how to distribute parliamentary seats fairly." He says:

The resource needed for each revision is about half an hour of the time of a junior official in the Department of the Environment who can use spreadsheets; there is no need to take up hours of Dáil time [he does not mention the Seanad] or months of work by a high-powered, multi-member constituency commission.

This is food for thought.