Sir, – In “Referendum may be needed to limit number of TDs in Dáil” (Analysis, February 8th), it is stated that “if the population continues to increase at a rate of 2 per cent annually, 15 TDs will be added to the Dáil every five years if the constitutional limits are not to be breached”.
The 2022 census shows that our population in fact grew at a rate of 1 per cent per annum over the last decade, not 2 per cent. While this additional 1 per cent might seem trivial, it would add an extra 600,000 to our population by 2030. There is no reason to believe that this will occur.
Second, projections produced by the CSO, the Department of Finance, and Eurostat predict that our population will grow by no more than an average of 0.8 per cent per annum over the next three decades, bringing our population to 5.6 million by 2030 and 6.2 million by 2050.
This would require no more than seven additional Dáil seats every five years, less than half the number needed under your alarmist assessment.
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You also point out that the UK has one MP for every 92,000 people, compared to our one TD for every 30,000. This is like comparing apples and oranges.
The establishment of devolved assemblies in Northern Ireland in 1998 and in Scotland and Wales in 1999 led to significant powers being transferred to those bodies, with the size of the House of Commons being capped at 650 ever since on the basis that they now have less work to do. The UK also has a vast, powerful and well-funded system of local government with 19,200 councillors, one for every 3,500 people.
In contrast, Ireland currently has just 950 councillors, one for every 5,400 people. Before the slash-and-burn “reforms” of our local authorities in 2014, we had one for every 2,900 people.
Surely the response to our growing population should be to limit the size of the Dáil while expanding local government? This was how virtually every country in Europe dealt with a rapidly increasing population over the last century.
Instead, as always, the knee-jerk reaction here is to grasp at yet another opportunity to cut our number of political representatives per capita and increase the workload on our politicians. Meanwhile, we will continue to scratch our heads wondering why so little new blood is entering politics, and why accountability is so poor at all levels. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Dublin 3.