Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I absolutely agree with this. Senator Boylan has made it clear. The Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, uses the d'Hondt system. Many local authorities use the d'Hondt system for various committees and sub-committees. It is important that it is representative. It gives support and legitimacy to what are, in effect, equal, valued members of a local authority. They have been elected by the people. They are in a local democracy, a local parliament. For far too long, we have had sub-divisions based on political affiliations in some councils. Some councils are more progressive than others so it varies in each of the 31 councils. I understand that amount of flexibility, but let us be clear: these are people who have been elected through the democratic process. They put themselves forward for election, set out their stalls and received a mandate. There would be no ambiguity about it. We should be putting in primary legislation specific issues around the d'Hondt system in the context of the mayor of Limerick. I support this amendment.