John Ellis (Fianna Fail)

I refer to the report published yesterday by the constituency commission. As Members are probably aware, 75% of the submissions made to the commission came from County Leitrim. They came from people across the political spectrum who sought the county's location within one constituency or other. The net result of the constituency commission's decision published yesterday is that were a candidate to secure every vote cast in either section of Leitrim, he or she would have only 0.75 of a quota. This comes close to disenfranchising the people of County Leitrim, who are not now in a position to elect a Deputy of any political persuasion.

This is unsatisfactory and I call on the Leader to ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to attend the House to explain the reason the constituency commission did not take cognisance of the submissions made to it from across the political spectrum. Several other configurations could have been put in place that would have allowed Leitrim to remain as a single entity within one constituency. Obviously, however, this constitutes another attack on the weakest part of the country. I demand that the Leader ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to come before the House to discuss this issue before the publication of any legislation.

I will call on the Government to reject this report. Members will have noted how part of south Offaly has been thrown into Tipperary North and west Limerick has been put into Kerry North. Every area in the country has been facilitated except for its weakest region and I appeal to the Leader to ensure the Minister comes before the House to discuss this matter. The constituency commission report should be rejected across the political spectrum as the submissions it received demonstrated the depth of feeling regarding what has been proposed.