Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree wholeheartedly with the Senator and it is critically important. If one looks at where we are now, it is going to be a very short time once the commission is established. As I have said, it is going to be tasked with quite a significant body of work from the outset but this part of that work is going to be critically important, given that there will be an electoral event in 2024 and, we hope, a general election in 2025.

It is important that political parties and prospective candidates have certainty as to where they are running. I certainly know that many of the political parties are all very active in this space in beginning to put candidates forward, or certainly in having electoral area representatives already active on the ground. We need that certainty to give an opportunity, particularly to new candidates, for a run-in to the local elections in 2024. From my own perspective we will be doing all we can to ensure that the commission is in place by the middle of next year and that among its early tasks will be to give due consideration to electoral boundaries and all of the other associated work that requires to be done there. I thank the Acting Chairman.