The purpose of the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 1998, is to fix the total number of Members of Dáil Éireann and to revise the constituencies in respect of which Members are elected to the Dáil. The constituencies proposed in the Bill are those recommended by the 1998 Constituency Commission, the first established under the Electoral Act, 1997. The new constituencies will come into force on the next dissolution of the Dáil. They will not have effect in relation to any by-elections held in the meantime.
The constitutional requirements in relation to Dáil membership and constituencies are set out in Article 16. They may be summarised as follows: the number of Members must be fixed from time to time by law; there must be at least one Member for every 30,000 of the population and not more than one for every 20,000; the ratio between the number of Members to be elected for each constituency and the population of each constituency as ascertained at the last preceding census must, so far as it is practicable, be the same throughout the country; the Oireachtas must revise the constituencies at least once in every 12 years with due regard to changes in distribution of the population — the legal advice to the previous Government was that the Constitution requires revision of the constituencies whenever a census discloses substantial changes in population; and the number of Members to be returned for any constituency must not be less than three.
These constitutional provisions were considered by the courts in two cases in 1961 — the High Court case of John O'Donovan v. the Attorney General, and the Supreme Court reference case relating to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 1961. In neither of these cases did the courts quantify the precise degree of equality of representation which is required by the Constitution, although the judge in the O'Donovan case appeared to suggest that a departure of about 5 per cent from strict mathematical parity would be acceptable.
Dealing with the question of equality of representation in the subsequent reference case, the Supreme Court stated that it could not lay down a figure above or below which a variation from the national average is not permitted. The court stressed that the practical considerations which ought to be taken into account, and the weight that should be attached to them in departing from strict equality of representation, are primarily matters for the Oireachtas and should not be reviewed by the courts unless there is a "manifest infringement" of the relevant article of the Constitution. The court concluded that the test to be applied is whether the failure to maintain the ratio between the number of Members for each constituency and the population of each constituency involves such a divergence as to make it clear that the Oireachtas has not carried out the intention of the relevant constitutional provisions.
In each revision of constituencies effected between 1961 and 1974 the limit of 5 per cent, suggested in the O'Donovan case, was adhered to. However, more substantial departures from mathematical equality were provided for in the revisions carried out since 1974, based on the recommendations of independent commissions. The maximum departures in schemes recommended by non-statutory commissions were 7.6 per cent above the national average in the Louth constituency in 1990 and 7.9 per cent below the national average in the constituency of Mayo East in 1983. The proposed constituencies in the Bill are within these departures.
Part II of the Electoral Act, 1997, provides that, on publication of the census report, a commission must be established to review the constituencies for Dáil and European elections. The commission is chaired by a judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court nominated by the Chief Justice and the members are the Ombudsman, the Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Local Government and the Clerks of the Dáil and Seanad. The Act sets out the commission's terms of reference which, subject to the constitutional requirements, restrict total Dáil membership to the range 164-8. The commission is required to report to the Chairman of the Dáil within six months of its establishment. Reports of the commission must be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.
The terms of reference for Dáil constituencies as set out in section 6 of the Act provide that a constituency commission shall, in observing the relevant provisions of the Constitution, have regard to the following: the total number of Members of the Dáil shall be not less than 164 and not more than 168; each constituency shall return three, four or five members; the breaching of county boundaries shall be avoided as far as practicable, although this restriction does not extend to city boundaries or the administrative county boundaries in Dublin; each constituency shall be composed of contiguous areas and there shall be regard to geographic considerations including significant physical features and the extent of and density of population in each constituency. Subject to these provisions, the commission shall endeavour to maintain continuity in relation to the arrangement of constituencies.
Volume 1 of the 1996 census, published in August 1997, showed that two constituencies, namely, Cork North-West and Galway East, have fewer than the constitutional minimum of 20,000 population per Deputy. In other constituencies the number of persons represented by each Deputy varied significantly from the national average. The variance from national average representation in Dublin West was almost 16 per cent and in Kildare North was almost 11 per cent. Thus, a revision of Dáil constituencies is now mandatory under the Constitution.
The commission was established by order made on 30 September 1997 and presented its report to the Ceann Comhairle on 26 March 1998. In a press release issued to coincide with the publication of the report the commission outlined its overall approach to Dáil constituency review as follows:
The commission reviewed each constituency, having regard to the overriding constitutional requirements, its terms of reference and the submissions received. It gave particular attention to constituencies with variances exceeding 5 per cent from the national average representation. Where an adjustment was necessary, the commission examined the available options and recommended arrangements which it considers reasonable and practicable. No change in the total number of Dáil deputies is recommended.
The commission's approach to the Dublin area, having regard to its terms of reference, was to formulate coherent constituencies, bounded by readily identifiable physical features, which provide reasonable equality of representation and unite communities as far as practicable. The commission also endeavoured to match constituency size with the particular circumstances of each locality.
The commission's report was circulated to every Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas. I am sure Senators welcome the high standard of presentation of the report which make the proposed boundary changes very clear. I thank the chairman of the commission, Mr. Justice Richard Johnson, and the other members for their work. The commission carried out its task in a conscientious and impartial manner and it is right that we should record our appreciation of its report and work.
The principle of having constituencies drawn up by an independent commission has applied since the first commission was set up by a Fianna Fáil Government in 1977. Inherent in this approach is an implication that the commission's recommendations will be implemented in their entirety and this is what the Government is now proposing. Of course, under the Constitution the ultimate responsibility for the revision of Dáil constituencies rests with the Oireachtas.
The Bill provides that total Dáil membership will remain at 166 and increases the number of constituencies by one to 42. There will be 16 three seat constituencies, 12 four seat and 14 five seat constituencies. There are changes to 21 existing constituencies and the average population per Member ranges from 6.66 per cent above the national average in the Waterford constituency to 7.44 per cent below the national average in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.
In the Dublin area, the existing allocation of 47 Dáil seats is retained, assigned to 12 constituencies. A new constituency is being created, namely, Dublin Mid-West, and there are boundary changes in all 11 existing constituencies. The seat allocation in five of the existing constituencies is being altered. Discounting the new constituency, there will be a transfer between Dublin constituencies of 97,000 population.
Outside Dublin, minor territorial changes are being made to ten constituencies, namely, four in Cork and the two constituencies in Counties Kildare, Galway and Limerick. These changes involve a transfer of 20,200 population. There is no change in the number of Deputies in any constituency outside Dublin.
The commission also had the task of reporting on the constituencies for the European Parliament, the next elections for which will be held on Friday, 11 June 1999, the same day on which local elections will be held. There are no constitutional provisions relating to the formation of European constituencies, but the commission's terms of reference require that there be reasonable equality of representation between constituencies. In addition, section 15 of the European Parliament Elections Act, 1997, requires that the Minister shall, having considered the report of the constituency commission, submit proposals for a review of European constituencies to the Oireachtas by 1 December 2003 at latest and subsequently at least once every ten years.
The 1996 census showed that the variances from national average representation in the existing four European constituencies ranged from minus 10.4 per cent in the Leinster constituency to plus 9.44 per cent in the Dublin constituency. In its report the commission indicated that most submissions made to it recommended no change in existing constituencies. The commission examined alternative arrangements but concluded that "no reasonable re-drawing of the constituencies would reduce the existing variances and result in coherent constituencies with which communities could identify". The commission's recommendation that there be no change in the current formation of the four European constituencies has been accepted by the Government.
To conclude, it is obvious from the report that the commission strove conscientiously to produce proposals in keeping with the Constitution and its terms of reference. Where a difficult choice had to be made, the commission marshalled the available options and made an informed and reasoned recommendation. While others might make a different choice, the commission carried out its appointed task in compliance with the guidelines given it and the Government believes its recommendations should be implemented in full. Accordingly, I commend the Bill to the House.