Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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494. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if, in light of the timeline for the 2027 census, he will set out the subsequent timelines for completion and publication by the Electoral Commission of boundary reviews for, respectively, local electoral areas; European constituencies; and Dáil constituencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36098/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Chapter 7 of Part 2 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 provides for the review of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies by An Coimisiún Toghcháin while Chapter 8 of Part 2 of the Act sets out the framework for future reviews of local electoral areas also by An Coimisiún Toghcháin.

In the case of reviews to Dáil and European Parliament constituencies, section 56 of the Act provides that An Coimisiún shall conduct a review of all constituencies following the publication, by the Central Statistics Office, of the preliminary results of a Census of Population of the State. Section 57 of the Act sets out the terms of reference in respect of the review of both Dáil and European Parliament constituencies while section 58 provides that the Report of An Coimisiún Toghcháin in respect of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies shall be completed and published within three months of the publication of the final Census results.

Section 23 of the Local Government Act 2001 empowers the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to divide, by order, a local authority area into local electoral areas and to amend those areas. However, where a review of local electoral areas is proposed, in advance of deciding to make an order under section 23 of the Act, the Minister must, in accordance Part V of the Local Government Act 1991 (as amended), request An Coimisiún Toghcháin to make a report having regard to such matters as may be specified by the Minister.

Before making a request to An Coimisiún, section 61 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 provides that the Minister shall lay a draft of the request before each House of the Oireachtas for approval by resolution by each House.

Following the completion of a review, the Minister must publish the report of An Coimisiún and must have regard to the report in deciding whether to make an order in relation to any amendment to local electoral area boundaries.