David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I fully agree with Senator Mooney on the establishment of the commission. We see this happen far too often where powers are devolved to a quango or commission. It is a case of politicians abdicating their responsibility. The point has been well made by the Senator that the Minister has a plethora of officials available to him and his Department to do the work of the commission. I gave as an example on the Order of Business the possibility of a boundary change in Waterford which would create local tensions, to put it mildly, with some people in Kilkenny. The response from the Leader of the House was that this was a matter for the commission, that it would deal with the potential hot potato of a boundary change. The Bill provides for the abdication of responsibility by allowing the commission to make decisions in order that politicians can hide behind its recommendations. That is wrong. I question how long the commission will take to do its work and when it will come back with firm proposals. Even at that stage political decisions will still have to be made. The Cabinet will still have to sign off on the recommendations of the commission. All this means is that when a recommendation is placed before the Cabinet, Ministers or Government representatives will be able to say it was a decision of the commission to change the boundaries of a constituency. That is the reason the commission is being established. We should call a spade a spade. I do not agree with the proposal. I fully support the sentiments expressed by Senator Mooney. Therefore, I support the amendment.