(Part 1 of a 2 Part Submission)

A chara, 

This submission is for all constituencies. 

With respect to the remit of the Electoral Commission, I would like it to recommend to the government that consideration should be given to amending the constitution by referendum with regard to the ratio of members to the ever-increasing population. 

16. 2. 2° states “The number of members shall from time to time be fixed by law, but the total number of members of Dáil Éireann shall not be fixed at less than one member for each thirty thousand of the population, or at more than one member for each twenty thousand of the population.”

I would recommend that this article be changed to limit the amount of TD’s to a number concurrent with the number present in the Dáil, 160, and at that point, representation per head of population can be taken into account by an Electoral Commission,

Replacing the article with “The number of members shall be fixed by law, but shall not exceed 160 members.” would practically serve this.

If that is not amenable, consideration should be given to changing the figures in the article from the abovementioned to “shall not be fixed at less than one member for each forty thousand of the population, or at more than one member for each thirty thousand of the population.”

Kindest Regards

Damien Cahill