THE GOVERNMENT will tomorrow reveal its plans to reduce the number of TDs at the next election and sweeping changes in constituency boundaries are expected.
In its election manifesto, Fine Gael proposed to cut the number of TDs by 20, but the programme for government agreed with the Labour Party makes no reference to the scale of the reduction.
The Electoral Amendment Bill, 2011, to be published tomorrow in tandem with the preliminary census results, will contain the terms of reference for a new constituency commission with guidelines as to the number of TDs in the next Dáil.
The Cabinet yesterday agreed the terms of reference for the commission to allow it to reduce the number of TDs.
They will be substantially different from the terms of reference for the last constituency commission, which reported in 2007. They specified that the Dáil should contain not fewer than 164 TDs and not more than 168. The commission decided on 166.
Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said last month that the 32nd Dáil formed after the next general election could have as many as 20 fewer TDs and the commission would be given a range of reductions to consider.
The commission will be chaired by a High Court judge, in line with previous practice, and its findings will be binding.
It will be asked to report to the Government within three months of the final census report, which will be published next year.
The final report is unlikely to differ in any significant way from the preliminary report to be published tomorrow.
The process is expected to have a dramatic impact on the shape of the constituencies for the next election, with substantial changes in the current make-up of the 43 constituencies.
That election will take place in 2016 if the Fine Gael-Labour coalition runs for its full five-year term.
Whatever reduction is proposed by the Government will be in line with the current tolerance level set out in the Constitution. It provides that there should be one TD for between every 20,000 to 30,000 of the population.
The ratio was traditionally close to the 20,000 figure to maximise the number of TDs but is expected to move closer to the 30,000 limit in the new review.
The commitment in the programme for government reads: “The political system cannot ask others to change and make sacrifices if it is not prepared to do the same.
“We will significantly reduce the size of the Oireachtas by abolishing the Seanad, if the public approve in constitutional referendum, and we will reduce the number of TDs following the publication of the results of the 2011 census of population.”
A referendum on the abolition of the Seanad is not expected to take place until the second half of next year.