Vol. 380 No. 2
asked the Minister for the Environment when it is expected that the Government will announce their intentions in relation to the redrawing of constituency boundaries; if it is intended to appoint an independent commission to make recommendations on the redrawing of the boundaries; and if he will make a statement of the matter.
28.
asked the Minister for the Environment if he has received the final census report for 1986 from the Central Statistics Office; if he has examined the details which would lead him to conclude that changes in constituency boundaries are necessary; if he intends to set up a commission to undertake such a review; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
78.
asked the Minister for the Environment if it is intended to set up a commission to deal with the revision of the constituencies for Dáil elections as has been the practice since 1977; if so, when the commission will be announced; and if the membership will be made up of people holding the same statutory positions as the last review commission.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 28 and 78 together. I refer the Deputies to the reply by the Taoiseach to Question No. 43 on 22 March last in which he gave details of the population for each Dáil constituency as ascertained at the 1986 census. The statistical information required for a revision of constituencies is now available. I am examining the position in the light of this information and of the constitutional provisions and the relevant court rulings.
The reply is not satisfactory. The question asks if it is intended to appoint an independent commission to make recommendations on the redrawing of the boundaries as this is what the electorate and the elected would want to see happen. Is it the Minister's intention to have an independent commission make recommendations based on the figures he has from the census?
The penultimate sentence of my reply covers that matter. I said I am examining the position now that all the bulletins and figures from the census are available.
The Minister informs the House he is examining the matter but would he assure the House that he does not intend to adjust the boundaries himself, that there will be no return to such gerrymandering practices and that there will be an independent boundary commission?
The question of the Minister preparing proposals is one of the options available to deal with this matter, but it must be understood that, in accordance with the Constitution, the decision ultimately rests with the Oireachtas. Whatever is done, and whenever it is done, both Houses have to pass the electoral Bill. Under the Constitution we only have to revise the constituencies once in every 12 years.
If the Minister has completed the examination, is it his intention to bring the necessary legislation before the House before the summer recess?
I cannot see that as a possibility at this time. Those who understand the complexity of the matter will appreciate that.
Can the Minister give an indication of when the review will be complete and when he will be in a position to make a report to the House?
I cannot do that. All I can say is that the matter is under urgent review by me at the moment, but until such time as decisions are taken what is the point of pursuing this further? Deputies will know soon enough.
I put down my question because I was concerned about newspaper reports emanating from the Minister's office. Would the Minister confirm that he has not indicated either to the Minister for Defence or the Minister of State at the Department of Education that there will be three-seat constituencies in Galway, Clare and Limerick?
I am surprised at the Deputy listening to rumours and corridor talk.
Published by the Minister for Defence.
The only Minister entitled to make a comprehensive statement on this matter is the one the Deputy is talking to, and in due course that will be done. In response to the Deputy's question, the final census figures have been received and are being examined. It is only then that a decision can be taken on whether it is necessary to have a constituency review, considering it is only mandated on the Minister to do this once every 12 years. However, from a casual perusal of the figures it seems there are some imbalances in the census returns as regards one constituency against another. Consequently we can take it there is need to adjust constituencies.
Would the Minister agree that for a Minister who is generally very forthright in answering questions, he is very ambivalent on this question?
No. If the decision had been taken and the consideration of the census figures completed, Deputies would have got a straight reply. So far as I am concerned there is nothing to be gained by delaying. I will make the decision and then the announcement, never forgetting that if anything is done, inevitably it will have to be considered in an electoral Bill.
A final supplementary from Deputy Gay Mitchell.
I want to put down a marker that there will be no question of the Minister unilaterally redrawing the boundaries——
The Deputy has already posed that Question. Question No. 11.
When does the 12-year period expire?
I will not allow my decision to be circumvented. I am calling Question No. 11.
I think it is reasonable to ask when the 12-year period will expire.
The Deputy is repeating himself.
I am not. I understand there is——
The Deputy has already made that point. I am calling Question No. 11.
I do not often interrupt the proceedings of this House but——
Please desist.
I will not desist.
Then you will leave the House.
I do not often interrupt the Chair but it is reasonable to ask when the 12-year period will expire.
That is not the question you originally asked.
That is the question I want the Minister to address.
Article 16.2 of the Constitution governs this matter. Two revisions took place as a result of the recommendation of ad hoc boundary commissions in 1980 and 1983.
I do not think Deputy Mitchell need worry about it in this Dáil.
