Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter.I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan.

The census was due to be held this year but, of course, it has been postponed because of Covid-19. It is now due to be held on 3 April 2022. In April of this year, the Central Statistics Office estimated the population at 5.01 million. This means that the population has risen above 5 million for the first time since the 1851 census, when the comparable population was 5.11 million, or more than 6.6 million for the island as a whole. Some of the reasons for the increase in population are more Irish nationals returning to live here, with 7,300 more than those who left, and births exceeding deaths by some 22,800 in the year ending April 2021.

With population changes come the dreaded boundary revisions and reviews. This can exercise voters. When county boundaries are breached, in the case of Dáil elections, people feel disenfranchised as has happened previously in Leitrim, Carlow, Cavan and Tipperary and as is happening at present in Meath, Mayo, Donegal, Roscommon, Laois and another part of Tipperary.

It is speculated that on foot of population changes, a constituency boundary commission will established and that it may report in 2023 in advance of a possible general election in 2024 or 2025. Will the Minister of State advise on timelines for this, when a Dáil commission might be established and when it might report? What are his views regarding the breaches of county boundaries, which are particularly worrying and annoying for many constituents when small numbers of district electoral divisions, DEDs, are excluded from the county and put in with a larger county or set of counties?

Considering that the next local elections and European Parliament elections will take place in 2024, does the Minister of State feel that there will be insufficient time to hold a boundary review of council electoral areas in advance? Is it his view that there would be a boundary review in advance of the next local elections or would the timeline be too short for that? I am not urging one way or the other, but as the Minister of State is aware, politicians like to know what the boundaries would be. What is the view regarding the number of seats in the EU Parliament? Ireland currently holds 13 seats. Is this set in stone for the new elections to the Parliament in 2024?

For sitting politicians and would-be candidates for parties and for Independents, having advance or timely notice of these things is extremely important for their campaigns in the context of boundaries and configurations. Timely decisions are hugely beneficial to all in terms of preparation. I would appreciate a response on this issue, which perhaps might not exercise the general population a huge amount but which is extremely important for politicians in the context of their jobs and plans over the coming years.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I agree. This is an important issue, certainly politically for candidates but also for the right of constituents to exercise their vote in their areas and DEDs. It is critically important.

Article 16 of the Constitution sets out clearly and distinctly the overarching requirements that apply to the membership of Dáil Éireann. In addition, and complementary to the constitutional provisions of Article 16.2 in particular, Part Il of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended, provides for a review of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies following each census of population and establishes, among other things, the terms of reference for a constituency commission in respect of the undertaking of such reviews.

In very broad terms, the publication of preliminary census results triggers the establishment of a constituency commission under section 5(1) of the Electoral Act 1997 with the commission required, under section 9(1) of that Act, to present its report on Dáil and European Parliament constituencies to the chairman of the Dáil within three months of publication of final census results.

The timing for the publication of preliminary census results and final census results are matters for the Central Statistics Office, which is responsible for organising each census, but typically these publications have taken place within approximately three months and 12 months, respectively, of the holding of the census. In September 2020, on the advice of the Central Statistics Office the Government decided to postpone the 2021 census due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The next census is now due to take place on 3 April 2022. Against this background, the next review of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies will commence following the publication of preliminary census results.This will be undertaken in compliance with our constitutional requirements and will be completed in accordance with the statutory timeframe currently set out under the Electoral Act 1997.

Unlike the position for Dáil and European Parliament constituencies, there is no constitutional or legislative requirement for the revision of local electoral areas at a particular point in time, such as following the publication of preliminary or final census results. Nonetheless, section 23 of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended, empowers the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to divide a local authority area into local electoral areas and to amend those areas. In advance of deciding to make an order under section 23 of that Act, the Minister must in accordance with the provisions of Part 5 of the Local Government Act 1991, as amended, request a boundary committee to make a report having regard to such matters as may be specified by the Minister. The Minister must publish the report of the boundary committee and must have regard to the report of that committee when deciding to make an order on any amendment to local electoral area boundaries.

As matters currently stand, no decision has been taken on the review of local electoral area boundaries in advance of the next scheduled local elections in 2024. The Senator will be aware that earlier this year the Government circulated the general scheme of an electoral reform Bill to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for pre-legislative consideration. The general scheme addresses a number of commitments in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, including the establishment of a statutory electoral commission. The electoral commission will be independent of Government and will report directly to the Oireachtas. Following its establishment it will, among other matters, take several existing statutory electoral functions from the outset, including the work currently undertaken by the Constituency Commission and local electoral area boundary committees.

I also wish to assure the Senator that we have had very good pre-legislative consideration of the electoral reform Bill. In our discussions around the early establishment of the commission, we probably think that it will be established in the second quarter of 2022, once it obviously goes through its legislative journey. It is critically important that among its early tasks will be looking at those electoral events, the most immediate of which will, hopefully, be the local and European elections of 2024.

I will not give any specific views on the seats in the European Parliament but I certainly believe that it is important that the boundary review would take place to give us sufficient time to prepare for local and European elections in 2024. Gabhaim buíochas.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. Based on his reply and the census that is taking place in April, one can therefore say, again, depending on the Central Statistics Office, CSO, that the preliminary results will be published in the summer of 2022. The electoral commission, if it has been set up, would have 12 months after that to report, and for this to be confirmed within three months of the publication of the final census data.

On the local elections, I again urge that timely decisions are made on these because we cannot have a situation whereby a commission is organised or has decided to review boundaries that leaves the minimum amount of time for candidates, sitting councillors or would-be councillors, to prepare for them. It is important that those decisions are made in a timely manner in advance of the 2024 elections, which we know are taking place on that date. The general election may be slightly different as we obviously do not know when exactly that will take place but we know the date of the local and European elections.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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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.