Number of TDs to increase from 158 to 160 at next election

The number of TDs is to increase from 158 to 160 with Dublin Central, Kildare South and Cavan-Monaghan to gain an extra deputy.

The three-seat Laois and Offaly constituencies will be merged to form a five-seater.

The recommendations by the Constituency Commission were released on Tuesday night by the Department of Housing.

The report proposes to increase the number of TDs to 160, the maximum number the commission can recommend.

Fianna Fáil moves Bill to restore town councils

---

Bill appointing judges ‘unique and modernising’

---

Varadkar defends ‘modern’ judicial appointments Bill

---

Shane Ross’s quixotic crusade on judicial jobs Bill nears its end

---

The number of constituencies will be reduced from 40 to 39, due to the merging of Laois and Offaly.

There will now be 13 five-seater constituencies, 17 four-seaters and nine three-seaters.

The commission, which consists of chairman Robert Haughton, clerk of the Dáil Peter Finnegan, Ombudsman Peter Tyndall, secretary general of the Department of Housing John McCarthy and clerk of the Seanad Martin Grove, said this is the closest it could come to achieving “the optimum level of parity of representation”.

In Dublin, the constituencies of Dublin Bay South, Dublin Fingal, Dublin South-Central, Dublin Mid-West, Dublin South-West and Dublin West will remain unchanged.

Adjustments are to be made between Dublin Rathdown and Dún Laoghaire, with the Glencullen area to be transferred to Dún Laoghaire.

Dublin Central will change from a three-seat to a four-seat constituency, taking in population from Dublin North-West and Dublin Bay North.

Gains and transfers

The report says Cavan and Monaghan will gain all Cavan electoral divisions and its representation will be increased from four seats to five.

Parts of Meath East and Sligo-Leitrim will be transferred to the Cavan-Monaghan constituency.

The constituencies of Meath West, Louth and Longford-Westmeath will remain unchanged, the report states.

Roscommon-Galway will remain a three-seat constituency but will gain additional population from Galway East. Population from Galway East will be transferred to Galway West, which will lose some back to Mayo.

Mayo, Galway East and Galway West seat representation remains unchanged.

Co Kildare will have a four-seat Kildare North constituency and a four-seat Kildare South constituency.

Kildare South will gain an additional seat and will include population from Offaly and Laois. The rest of Laois and Offaly will be merged to form a five-seat constituency.

There will be no change to the five Cork constituencies. Kerry, Waterford and Wexford will also remain unchanged.

No change in Europe

The commission also recommends no change to the three existing constituencies for the election of the 11 members of the European Parliament.

The commission’s report was released late on Tuesday night on the Department of Housing website.

The body was tasked by the former minister for housing Simon Coveney to examine the need for electoral amendments. It is bound by the Electoral Act 1997, which states the maximum number of TDs it can recommend is 160.

However in its report it points to the increase in population, which now stands at almost 4,762,000 and is close to the constitutional limit of 30,000 per population per Dáil member.