I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The purpose of the Bill is to fix the total number of Members of Dáil Éireann in pursuance of subsection 2 of Article 16.2 of the Constitution and, in pursuance of subsection 4 of the same Article, to revise the constituencies in respect of which Members are elected to the Dáil.
The constitutional requirements in relation to membership of the Dáil and in relation to constituency formation 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 shall, 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; 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 well known 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 1980 the limit of 5 per cent, suggested in the O'Donovan case, was adhered to. However, in the revisions carried out in 1980 and since, which have been based on the recommendations of independent commissions, more substantial departures from mathematical equality have been provided for. The maximum departures in schemes recommended by previous 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 census taken in 1991 showed that in some constituencies the number of persons represented by each Dáil Member was considerably above the national average while in others it was well below that average. In Dublin, for example, the departure from the national average in Dublin North was approaching 12 per cent above that average while the departure in Dublin South-Central was almost 6 per cent below. The situation was also unsatisfactory in other parts of the country, notably in the Tipperary North and South constituencies which had departures from the national average representation per Member in the region of 9 per cent. There were also serious disparities in Mayo, Galway and Kildare. Thus, a revision of constituencies is now mandatory under the Constitution.
A constituency commission was set up by the previous Government in November 1994 to advise on this matter and its recommendations have been accepted by the Government. The recommendations are being given effect in this Bill. They represent a package of proposals the Oireachtas is invited to accept by passing the necessary legislation.
I take this opportunity to thank the chairman of the commission, Mr. Justice Richard Johnson, and the other members, for the way in which they did the job given to them. Revising the constituencies is always a difficult and thankless task and, no matter what arrangement is recommended, it is certain that it will not please everyone. Nevertheless, all Members will acknowledge that the commission carried out its task in a conscientious and impartial manner and it is right that we should record our appreciation of its work.
The Electoral Bill, 1994 provides for the establishment, on a statutory basis, of an independent constituency commission to prepare proposals for the revision of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies. It provides that the commission will be set up on the publication of the census report following each census of population, with the same membership and essentially the same terms of reference as the Dáil commission which has just reported. The statutory commission will have to invite and consider submissions and report to the Ceann Comhairle on each occasion within six months of its establishment. The report will be laid before the Dáil and Seanad and its implementation will continue to require legislation. The debate on the Electoral Bill, 1994 will provide an opportunity to comprehensively review the experience of constituency commissions over the period of almost 20 years during which they have functioned and to consider any changes of a procedural or other kind which may be appropriate.
It is not necessary for me to comment at any length on the provisions of this Bill. The constituencies proposed in the Schedule are precisely those recommended by the commission. A copy of the commission's report was circulated to each Member of the Oireachtas last month, with a set of maps. An explanatory memorandum has been circulated with the Bill and a set of maps illustrating the proposed constituencies has been deposited in the Oireachtas Library. Smaller scale maps have also been circulated to each Member.
Under the Bill, total membership of the Dáil will remain at 166 and the total number of constituencies will remain at 41. There will not be a change in the number of different sized constituencies — there will continue to be 14 five-seater constituencies, 15 four-seaters and 12 three-seaters. Overall, the Bill provides for changes in 21 constituencies and for an average population per Member in each constituency ranging from 6.8 per cent above the national average in the Louth constituency to almost 5.8 per cent below the national average in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.
The principal changes provided for are the reduction by one seat each in Mayo and Tipperary and the allocation of an additional seat each to Galway and Kildare.
In the Dublin area, there is no change in the existing allocation of 47 seats or in the number of Members to be returned for each of the existing 11 constituencies. There are boundary changes in nine constituencies, with the largest transfers of population being made to include all the Ballyfermot-Cherry Orchard area in the Dublin Central constituency and all the Blanchardstown area in the Dublin West constituency.
The main boundary changes outside Dublin follow from the changes in seat allocations. County Mayo will become a five-seat constituency. Galway East, which will become a four-seater, will gain areas from Galway West, including Athenry, Craughwell, Gort, Kinvara and Clare Tuam. There will be a transfer from the Tipperary South constituency, which is being reduced to a three-seater, to Tipperary North of an area extending from Slieveardagh in the east to Hollyford in the west. Tipperary South will also return part of the Ballymacarby-Nire area to the Waterford constituency. Kildare will regain the area in the east of the county which is now part of the five-seat Wicklow constituency and will be divided into two constituencies. The three-seat Kildare North constituency will be based on Naas, Celbridge, Leixlip, Maynooth, Clane and Carbury while the three-seat Kildare South constituency will be based on Athy, Kildare and Newbridge.
The other boundary changes outside Dublin comprise the transfer of the Rathvilly-Hacketstown area of County Carlow to the Wicklow constituency and the transfer of the Borlin valley from the Cork North-West constituency to Cork South-West.
Under the terms of the Bill, the new constituencies will come into force on the next dissolution of the Dáil: they will not have effect in the pending by-election in Wicklow or any other by-election that may arise in the lifetime of the present Dáil.
The constituency commission was appointed by the previous Government and its terms of reference were drawn up by it. The Government has accepted all the commission's recommendations. Under the Constitution, the ultimate responsibility rests with the Oireachtas. In the Bill, the Government recommends that the commission's proposals should be implemented without any change. I commend the Bill to the House.