Calls for limits on the number of TDs ahead of review of Dáil constituencies

There have been calls for a referendum to cap the number of TDs or reduce the ratio of elected representatives per head of population in advance of this summer’s review of Dáil constituencies.

While politicians who have made submissions to the Electoral Commission have focused on calls not to breach county boundaries in the constituency shake up, some members of the public have taken the opportunity to propose new limits on the number of elected representatives.

The commission will have until the end of August deliver its report on the review of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies once the final result of Census 2022 is published on May 30th.

The preliminary results of the Census show that Ireland’s population has reached 5.12 million.

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The Constitution says there must be one TD for every 20,000 to 30,000 people.

In one submission, an individual called Tony O’Mahony asked the commission to consider proposing an amendment to the Constitution to allow for a cap on the number of TDs – suggesting it should be 180.

Another person, Damien Cahill, suggested a change to the Constitution to limit the amount of TDs to the current number, 160.

A submission from Eamonn Bolton outlined how compared to other democracies like the UK, Germany and Finland “it appears we are grossly over-represented”.

“I humbly submit that a total of 160 reps should cover both Houses of the Oireachtas – and this is on the generous side,” he added.

[ Stitching several counties into one Dáil constituency should be ‘abandoned permanently’ ]

He suggested there should be 116 TDs and 44 Senators.

A submission from Fabian Lee called for a change to the Constitution to raise the population ratio per elected member.

He said elected representatives in France are one per 100,000 people, it is one per 92,000 in the UK and one per 140,000 people in Norway.

Mr Lee said that if other countries “can do efficient jobs with larger numbers per representative, why can’t we in Ireland?”.

A submission from Hugh McGinley read: “I struggle to understand why we currently have 160 TDs for a population of just 5m!

“The Constitution was drafted around 1937 which was a totally different country to 2023…

“I want a referendum to realign TD numbers to one per 45/50K population.

“At that rate the current 160 TDs would drop to 100/110. Plenty.”

Another person, Brian Gould, said there should be a referendum to increase the representation ratio to one TD for between 32,000-45,000.

A different submission from Barry Lee said: “Ireland needs to reduce the amount of seats available in the next election, not increase it. Per ratio of population Ireland has too high a ratio already.”

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, no politician who has made a submission to the commission so far has called for a limiting of the number of elected representatives.

Newly published submissions show that Fine Gael Minister of State Peter Burke called for Westmeath not to be divided in the upcoming review. Part of the county is currently included in the Meath West constituency.

The Mullingar-based TD said a population increase in Westmeath means it is now a “viable option” to return the part of the county in the Meath West constituency to Longford-Westmeath.

Mr Burke said that splitting the county was “a mistake” and that he feels “strongly that Westmeath in totality should be reunited as part of our constituency in respect of future general elections”.

Mayo TD Alan Dillon joined constituency and Fine Gael colleague Michael Ring in calling for the return of parts of Mayo that are currently in the Galway West constituency.

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan highlighted how the last review of boundaries in 2017 had resulted in a change of constituency for many people, highlighting communities that were moved from Dublin North-West to Dublin Central, her own constituency.

She said people build up relationships with elected representatives over time and these need to be rebuilt each time the constituencies change.

Ms Hourigan wrote: “While some change is unavoidable it would be preferable if individual electoral divisions did not change on each and every review of the constituency boundaries.”

Fianna Fáil Senator Fiona O’Loughlin suggested changes to the Kildare South constituency which currently includes almost 11,000 people from Laois.

She said, that due a population increase in Kildare South, the communities in Laois could be removed from the constituency while it still retained four seats.

“This simple change would meet several of the commission’s stated aims” including avoiding breaching county boundaries,” Ms O’Loughlin said.

Donegal TD Joe McHugh – who has announced he is not running in the next general election – suggested that the integrity of county boundaries should be “given strong consideration in any boundary division”. Parts of Donegal are currently in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.

“Donegal has had a divide for the past two general elections leading to much frustration on the part of many constituents in Ballyshannon, Bundoran and Ballintra,” Mr McHugh said.