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

These amendments provide that an coimisiún toghcháin would recommend Dáil and European Parliament constituencies based on four, five and six seats, that it would recommend as few three-seat constituencies as possible and as many five-seat constituencies as possible when making recommendations regarding Dáil constituencies, and that it would have regard to all county boundaries, including within Dublin, when making recommendations on constituencies.

I thank the Senator for the amendments, which raise interesting points for discussion. It might be helpful for the Seanad if, at the outset, I outline the law and practice in the area of Dáil constituency size. Under Article 16.2.6° of the Constitution, no law may be enacted by the Oireachtas providing for fewer than three members for a Dáil constituency. The relevant parts of the Electoral Act 1997 are being retained in the Bill and provide that an coimisiún will make recommendations based on three-, four- or five-seat constituencies.

While in the early years of the State there were seven-, eight- and even nine-seat constituencies, constituency size in Ireland has been restricted to three, four and five seats since 1947. At present, the 39 Dáil constituencies are split with 13 five-seat constituencies, 17 four-seat constituencies and nine three-seat constituencies. It is worth noting that we have to go back to 1923 to find a time when we had fewer three-seat constituencies. That was a time when constituencies ranged in size form three seats to nine seats. In my view, there needs to be a reasonable choice of constituency sizes to produce constituencies that make sense to people on the ground by, for example, enclosing entire communities or adhering to obvious physical features. The three-, four- and five-seat arrangement has served us well and strikes a reasonable balance.

In relation to amendment No. 23, I would not be in favour of placing any further restriction on an coimisiún along the lines proposed. It is important that an coimisiún has a reasonable degree of flexibility when making recommendations on constituency formation. The amendment gives us no guidance on what circumstances would permit three-seat constituencies or indeed enable a larger number of five-seat constituencies. The nature of the task of constituency revision calls for a workable menu of different-sized constituencies and the arrangements proposed in the Bill achieve this.

Amendment No. 25 is also related to the terms of reference of the electoral commission when it is reviewing constituency boundaries. Section 56(2)(c) provides that when an coimisiún is reviewing Dáil and European Parliament constituency boundaries the breaching of county boundaries shall be avoided as far as practicable. However, section 56(4) provides that this requirement will not apply to a boundary of a city or any boundary between any two of the counties of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and south Dublin. Again, this is in line with the current terms of reference for constituency commissions set out in the Electoral Act 1997.

The effect of the proposed amendment would require an coimisiún to avoid, as far as practicable, breaching county boundaries, including those boundaries in Dublin, when making recommendations formulating Dáil constituencies. The boundaries of the 32 counties of Ireland have been in existence for centuries. In the past 200 years, these counties have become a well-established focus for community activity and so the requirement to generally align constituency boundaries with county boundaries makes sense. However, the effect of this amendment would be to impose greater restrictions on an coimisiún and would remove the avoidance of doubt type provisions that exist relating to city boundaries. The existing provision will give an coimisiún some flexibility in dealing with our cities, including Dublin city and county which is the most densely populated part of Ireland.

The reality is that urban development around cities has long since spilled over into the adjoining counties. Many people living outside city boundaries feel a strong degree of affinity and loyalty to their city and would prefer to be included in city constituencies. For these reasons, we should not require the commission to avoid, where practicable, breaching city boundaries or indeed the administrative boundaries in Dublin. It would be inadvisable, at this point, to tie the commission's hands in this way and so I do not favour any alteration to an coimisiún's terms of reference in this regard. For these reasons, I do not propose to accept amendments Nos. 22, 23 or 25.