Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, to the House.

The Fianna Fáil Party supports the European Parliament but opposes the legislation which unfairly deprives Ireland of a strong representation in Europe. The reduction earmarks Ireland for reduction as part of the accession of Croatia as the 28th state in the Union. The reduction from 12 to 11 seats facilitates the reduction of numbers in the European Parliament and the accommodation of the Croatian delegation at a time when Ireland needs a strong voice in Europe. The decision to cut numbers was made at intergovernmental level in June 2013, with the Government failing to voice its opposition. The specific constituency format of large sprawling areas reflects the recommendations of the Constituency Commission under the constraints set by the new seat level.

The Bill introduces a new constituency format for the upcoming European Parliament elections on 23 May 2014, the same day as the local elections. The total number of Irish seats has been reduced from 12 to 11. Ireland had already lost one fifth of its representation in the European Parliament, having been gradually cut from 15 to 12 seats, and a further cut of a seat to 11 hits Ireland disproportionately hard.

The European Parliament currently has 754 MEPs, distributed between all 27 member states, but the entry of Croatia to the Union this year which Fianna Fáil fully welcomes combined with the implementation of parts of the Lisbon treaty, which limit the membership to 751, means some countries must lose seats. On the arbitrary basis that countries with 12 seats must lose, Ireland has suffered a one seat loss. This must be reviewed in the future. The more countries that accede to the EU, the fewer seats countries such as Ireland will have, reducing to a maximum of six, if it continues in this light. That would be grossly unfair.

The reduction of numbers was implemented without any meaningful consultation with the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee. This weakens the Irish voice in the Chamber at a time when the Parliament has grown and expanded in powers and influence. This is particularly important for Ireland as we seek a better deal from Europe on our bank debt and investment to help get the economy going again.

With only 11 MEPs the workload of the Irish representatives will be even more thinly spread over 20 committees, which is where the majority of work is done in the European Parliament. Irish voices will be significantly limited in these critical areas.

The general guidelines for the size of Irish constituencies are laid out in the electoral laws dating from 1997 along with the establishment of the Constituency Commission. The same part of the Act governs how Dáil and European constituencies are set up. Importantly, it sets the same criteria for each. This means, as with the Dáil, European constituencies must elect between three and five Members.

The number of MEPs for each country is roughly in proportion to its population. Under the Lisbon treaty no country can have fewer than six or more than 96 MEPs. The numbers in the European Parliament were set before the coming into force of the treaty and they will be adjusted for the next mandate of the European Parliament. For example, the number of MEPs for Germany will be reduced from 99 to 96 while for Malta the number will increase from five to six. Several other countries will lose seats to accommodate the Croatian delegation to the European Parliament. Germany will lose three seats while Romania, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria and Lithuania will have one seat less.

The European Parliament constitutional affairs committee was not given the opportunity to make an independent input into the decision-making process for the seat reduction. All Irish MEPs opposed the decision. The final decision was made at a Council meeting in June 2013 at which the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, failed to protect Ireland's interests. The new sprawling constituencies laid out in the Bill reflect the constraints placed on the Constituency Commission by the agreement to reduce the number of seats to 11.

The European Parliament has expanded greatly in influence and power in the past two decades. It has evolved from what was essentially a talking shop and a consultative body in 1973 to a powerful part of the European machinery. This renders the number of Irish seats representing the interests of the people even more important. The replacement of member state contributions by community-owned resources led to the first extension of the parliamentary budget under the powers of the budgetary treaty signed in Luxembourg on 22 April 1970. A second treaty on the same subject of parliamentary powers was signed in Brussels on 27 July 1975.

The size of areas covered by the new constituencies is daunting to say the least. Let us consider the western constituency area, in which I live. The areas included are Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Westmeath and the city of Galway. That is an unwieldy constituency for four seats and represents a difficult task for candidates seeking election. I take this opportunity to wish them every success. They are taking on a major task to campaign in a rather unwieldy constituency. The Acting Chairman is aware of the circumstances last time around, but the area has been expanded further, stretching from the coast of Meath to the coast of Mayo. It is a major and daunting task for any individual to campaign in that region. Certainly, it would not favour smaller or minority groups. That is the position.

I put it to the Minister that in future negotiations there should be calls for the size of the European Parliament to be expanded and to factor in that we cannot take any more losses, go down below 11 seats or accept the same number of seats as Malta or Luxembourg. That would be grossly unfair and the Government should stand up and demand that our position and that of other smaller countries is protected.