Sir, - A figure caught my eye when I was reading about the recent Indian parliamentary elections. India's lower house has 545 deputies. The Dáil has 166. The population of India is 1.05 billion, compared with 3.9 million in the Irish Republic.
To achieve the same level of representation as India we would have to reduce the Dáil to two members. It's hard to think of even that many who deserve to remain, but the prospect is tempting nonetheless.
Readers in India might wish to note that, to match Irish levels of representation, they would need to elect more than 44,000 more deputies. - Yours, etc.,
PAUL LEAHY, Rosebank, Douglas, Cork.