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

The purpose of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023 is to provide for the number of members of Dáil Éireann and the European Parliament, the revision of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies and the number of members to be elected for each of such constituencies in the light of the results of census 2022, and having regard to European Council decision of 22 September 2023 establishing the composition of the European Parliament.

In broad terms, the Bill we are debating provides for the total number of Members of Dáil Éireann to be 174 and the number of constituencies to be 43 in accordance with the recommendations in the Constituency Review Report 2023 published by An Coimisiún Toghcháin on 30 August 2023. It also provides for the election of 14 Members to the European Parliament across the three constituencies of Dublin, Midlands-North-West and South in accordance with the recommendations in the Review of European Parliament Constituencies Report 2023 published by An Coimisiún Toghcháin on 20 November 2023.

In debating and deciding upon this Bill, the Oireachtas will meet its constitutional obligation to review and revise Dáil constituencies with due regard to population change and its distribution around the country. To support the Oireachtas in this task, the Electoral Reform Act 2022 provided for the establishment of An Coimisiún Toghcháin and assigned it responsibility for, among other matters, the review of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies. Under section 30(3) of the Electoral Reform Act 2022, An Coimisiún Toghcháin is "independent in the performance of its functions."

Since the report’s publication, the Government has given due consideration to the recommendations of an coimisiún and, in accordance with accepted practice since 1980, has agreed to implement them in full and without change. The Bill before this House provides for this.Our Constitution sets out clearly and distinctly the overarching requirements that apply to the membership of Dáil Éireann. In addition, and complementary to these constitutional provisions, chapter 7 of Part 2 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 provides for a constituency review following each census of population and establishes, among other things, the terms of reference for such reviews. The constitutional provisions require that Dáil constituencies be revised whenever population change, as ascertained in a census, leads to population to Member ratios in individual constituencies that are significantly out of line with the national average or the limits set in the Constitution of one Member to every 20,000 to 30,000 of population.

It has been six years since Dáil constituencies were last revised, by way of the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017, which gave legal effect to the recommendations in the Constituency Commission Report 2017. The results of census 2022 show an 8.1% population increase on the 2016 population, with population growth tending to be stronger in the eastern side of the country. A total of 5,149,139 people are now resident in the State, the highest the population has been for 171 years. The population is such now that the ratio of Members to population, at 32,182, is outside the constitutional upper limit of 1:30,000. While this does not make the composition of the Thirty-third Dáil unconstitutional, since it was formed on the basis of total numbers set with reference to the census of 2016, there is now an imperative to legislate for revised Dáil constituencies to bring them into line with the requirements of Article 16.2 of the Constitution in good time for the next general election.

In the High Court case taken by then Deputy Finian McGrath and Deputy Catherine Murphy in 2007, Mr. Justice Clarke stated he was satisfied there is an "urgent burden" on the Oireachtas to review constituencies following a census. In effect, he concluded the Oireachtas must act promptly to bring constituencies in line with population once a census reveals significant population change.

Chapter 7 of Part 2 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 provides for the review of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies to be undertaken by An Coimisiún Toghcháin. Under these provisions, an coimisiún's report on the review of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies must be published within three months of the publication of final census results. Final results for census 2022 were published on 30 May 2023, with an coimisiún's Constituency Review Report 2023 subsequently finalised and laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 30 August 2023. By now, I am sure all Members are familiar with its content. In short, the main recommendations are as follows: the number of Members of Dáil Éireann should be 174, up 14, which will give rise to the largest Dáil in the State's history; and there should be 43 constituencies, up four, of which 15 will be five-seat, up two, 15 will be four-seat, down two, and 13 will be three-seat, up four. Overall, an coimisiún reported that it was satisfied, in light of the constitutional requirements and its terms of reference, that the recommended Dáil constituencies meet the constitutional requirements and provide for equality of representation across constituencies.

The commission was also required to report on the constituencies for the election of Members to the European Parliament. While an coimisiún's report of 30 August 2023 recommended no change, subsequently, a European Council decision on the composition of the European Parliament was adopted on 22 September. This provided for, among other matters, 14 Members to be elected to represent Ireland in the next European Parliament. Against this background, An Coimisiún Toghcháin commenced a further review of European Parliament constituencies and published its European Parliament Constituencies Report 2023 on 20 November 2023. In that report, an coimisiún recommended a three constituency configuration, with Dublin at four seats remaining unchanged. South will retain five seats but will transfer the counties of Laois and Offaly to the Midlands-North-West constituency. The Midlands-North-West constituency, with the addition of the counties of Laois and Offaly, will increase to five seats, up one.

I will now outline the provisions in the Bill before us today. Section 1 provides for the definition of particular references in the Schedule to the Bill.

Section 2 provides that once the Act is passed there will be 174 Members in the next Dáil Éireann. Section 3 provides for those 174 Members to represent the constituencies specified in the Schedule. There will be 43 constituencies, of which 15 will be five-seat, 15 will be four-seat and 13 will be three-seat.

Section 4 provides that each constituency shall return the number of Members specified in relation to it in the Schedule.

Section 5 amends the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 to provide for the election of 14 Members to the European Parliament from the revised constituencies of Dublin, Midlands-North-West and South.

Section 6 provides for the repeal, on the dissolution of the Dáil that next occurs following the enactment of the Bill, of the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017.

Section 7 is a standard provision, which provides for the Short Title of the Bill and its collective citation with the Electoral Act 1992 and the European Parliament Elections Act 1997.

This Bill continues the long-established practice of implementing the recommendations of independent constituency reviews in full and without amendment, which has been an important factor in supporting the independence of the review process. It is a matter for the Oireachtas to revise the constituencies and I look forward to the debate on the Bill. I commend this Bill to the House.