Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think the problem lies with the district electoral division boundaries which are really old. In fact, there are huge anomalies in the St. Mary's electoral division. The Minister of State lives on the Louth side, while I live on the Meath side of that division. The Ardcath electoral division comes into Duleek, as well as Ratoath and Ashbourne but they do not reflect the towns or villages they are supposedly named after. I do not know how long they have been there, but they have certainly been there since the 1901 census or even earlier. We should examine those electoral boundaries so that towns such as Duleek would have their own district electoral division. In that case, there would be fewer anomalies when the Boundary Commission creates local electoral areas or Dáil constituencies. It could work well, but that is the root of the problem in my view.