asked the Minister for Local Government if he will state (a) the number of representatives provided for in (i) the First Dáil in 1919, and (ii) the Dáil of 1923, (b) the years prior to 1947 in which changes in membership were made, (c) the representation following the respective changes, and (d) the population at the time of each change.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dáil Representation.
34.
The number of representatives provided for by the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act, 1918, when the First Dáil was established was 105 (including 4 University representatives). Of these, 75 (including 3 University members) were for constituencies in the Twenty-six Counties.
Elections to the Second and Third Dála were conducted under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, which provided for 128 members (including 8 University members) for the Twenty-six Counties.
Provision was made by the Electoral Act, 1923, for 153 representatives (including 6 University representatives). The Fourth Dáil was elected in 1923 on this basis.
The Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act, 1935, reduced the number of representatives to be elected from constituencies other than university constituencies from 147 to 138. The population at the then last preceding census, 1926, was 2,971,922.
Apart from abolition of the university representation in the Dáil by the Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act, 1936, no changes other than the foregoing were made in the membership of the Dáil prior to 1947.