The number of TDs could increase to 185 at the next general election based on Ireland’s projected population growth, the Seanad has heard, as a call was made for a referendum to limit the numbers.
Independent Senator Michael McDowell said “nobody can predict where the population is going to go after that” as he introduced a motion calling for the Government to initiate legislation for such a referendum to cap the maximum number of TDs.
But Minister of State for Local Government Christopher O’Sullivan said: “I don’t think there’s any fear that anytime soon we’re going to be sitting on each other’s laps inside in Dáil Éireann.”
He acknowledged concerns about “an explosion of TDs” with population trends and forecasts but said: “I don’t think we’re anywhere near that.”
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The Minister said the number of TDs in the 1980s was 166 and “it’s only jumped by a total of eight, in a good number of decades”. He acknowledged it had gone down to 160 and there was a “significant jump” in the last election from 160 to 174.
But he said: “I don’t think we’re at the point yet where Leinster House is at capacity.”
O’Sullivan said An Coimisiún Toghchán is conducting research on the issue and “that should inform our way forward”.
Under the Constitution there must be a TD for a maximum of 30,000 of population, and introducing the motion McDowell said the “crucial point” is “our population dictates the number of TDs that there are, not the number of citizens”.
With continued growth there would be increased cost and if the numbers approached 200, “you’d have to possibly do a major extension and it would cost many multiples of the bicycle shed” to accommodate an additional 30 or 40 TDs “if we keep going”, he said.
On the numbers he gave an example that “if 120,000 Ukrainian people came to Ireland, as a result of the Russian invasion, that would actually mean an extra four TDs.
“But what sense is the in that? They may not be here for long. They may never take out citizenship, and they may go home.”
Ireland has the fastest-growing population in the EU and if every 30,000 people in the UK required an MP there would be some 2,300 members of the House of Commons, he said.
Citing other countries with similar populations he said Finland has a ratio of 35 MPs per million of population. Sweden has 33, Ireland 32, Norway 30.33 and Denmark 29.95.
“We’re not out of the ordinary” except that the other countries are unicameral parliaments while Ireland has a Seanad with a fixed number of 60 Senators, he added.
Independent Gerard Craughwell said the system for calculating TDs was “designed for an Ireland that no longer exists”. He said population growth alone now dictates the expansion of the Dáil – not institutional need nor strategic planning but “simple arithmetic”.
Fine Gael Senator PJ Murphy said Ireland’s parliamentary system is “quite unique by European standards” and means Senators and TDs “are deeply embedded” in their communities. “This is part of the Irish democratic culture. It’s personal, it’s accessible.”
In other EU countries people would not dream of contacting their politician for help with issues. “But here that connection is part of what keeps people engaged with the democratic process and something we should be careful not to weaken unintentionally.”
Sinn Féin Senator Conor Murphy said the Constitution requires constituency revision every 12 years, so the current mandate runs until 2029. He said the Government’s consideration of the issue should be done “in the context of the broader national question” and a unity referendum.
This is “very much on the horizon and will have a significantly bigger impact in terms of demographic change and the numbers entitled to elect people to the national parliament”.
