New Bill to reduce number of TDs in Dáil

MOVES TO reduce the number of TDs have begun with the introduction of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011, which also makes it compulsory for byelections to be held within six months of a vacancy.

The Bill provides that a constituency commission can recommend a set of Dáil constituencies with a minimum of 152 TDs and a maximum of 160.

The legislation also reduces spending limits for presidential elections from €1.3 million to €750,000, and cuts the amount that can be refunded to candidates from €260,000 to €200,000.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan introduced the Bill in the Dáil yesterday, and said the Government’s position was quite clear. “We want to reduce the size and the cost of government.”

Political reform had to start at the top, he said, and the programme for government stated “the political system cannot ask others to change and make sacrifices if it is not prepared to do the same”. Referring to the census results, Mr Hogan said representation level was at one TD to 20,271 people and this was “out of line with similar-sized countries”.

In New Zealand the figure was one per 35,000 of the population, while in Denmark it was one to 30,500. Neither country has a second parliamentary chamber.

The Minister said until now there was no deadline for the Dáil to hold a byelection. This had led to “some extraordinarily long delays” often for “political expediency”.

Fianna Fáil spokesman Niall Collins said Fine Gael “promised to cut the number of TDs by 20, which was a populist and high-profile approach before the election”, and was now reneging on that.

“It also promised to abolish the Seanad, a question which remains unanswered. It sought to reduce the number of Ministers of State and has not done so.”

Sinn Féin spokesman Brian Stanley said if the Government was serious about providing political leadership it should support a Sinn Féin Bill which would cut the Taoiseach’s and the Tánaiste’s pay by 30 per cent; Ministers’ pay by 27 per cent; and the Ceann Comhairle’s pay by 36 per cent. It also cuts the pay of Ministers of State and other office holders by a scale ranging from 20 per cent to 31 per cent, and cuts the basic salary of TDs and Senators by 19 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.