THE CONSTITUENCY Commission Report 2012, which was published yesterday, now goes for approval by the Dáil.
All previous reports since the commission was established before the 1981 general election have been accepted by the government of the day.
The current five-member commission is chaired by Mr Justice John D Cooke of the High Court.
The other members are Kieran Coughlan, clerk of the Dáil; Deirdre Lane, clerk of the Seanad; Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly and Geraldine Tallon, secretary general of the Department of the Environment.
Charged with recommending boundary changes on the basis of Census 2011 preliminary results, its terms of reference state:
the total number of TDs should be not fewer than 153 and not more than 160; each constituency should return three, four or five members; and the breaching of county boundaries should be avoided as far as practicable.
The terms also state that constituencies should adjoin one another and should take account of geographical considerations and population densities, adding that, subject to these provisions, the commission should try to maintain continuity.