Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On the Bill itself, I am unhappy with the current proposal to simply put the last two elected MEPs in stasis or in limbo in the Dublin and Ireland South constituencies.This is not a fair way of doing it and the same party is at risk of being penalised twice. My office sought to submit amendments for alternative proposals but found the process deeply complex so we were unable to do so. One option that has been advocated by Professor Michael Gallagher, with whom I know the Minister is familiar, is to have two election counts, with one filling the full number of seats in Ireland South and the other to fill just four seats, as the results would necessarily pan out differently. This would also be complicated and time-consuming. Another option is to assign seats to be taken using the d'Hondt method after the results of the first count. This would be fair and easy, and it would not involve an extra count. It is a pity we are not going to look into these options. As the Minister of State knows, I have skin in the game and I am the Green Party candidate for Ireland South so he can imagine how I would feel if I got the fifth seat but found I could not take it up. It would be a desperate position after all the campaigning.

The current size of the constituencies demonstrates that a regional approach to the allocation of seats to the European Parliament no longer makes sense. Last year I moved an amendment to the Bill's predecessor to create a single national constituency in recognition that these elections are about representing Ireland in Europe. Having spent the past few months on the campaign trail, I believe that a single constituency would be fairer. Those candidates in the Dublin area can criss-cross the constituency in the matter of a few hours. In Ireland South and the northern constituency, there is a huge amount of travel involved. I echo the point from Senator Rónán Mullen that Ireland must be represented and one constituency would be a fair way of doing that.