Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider retaining the long standing constituency name Dublin South as it has a resonance for its citizens which is completely lacking in its utterly meaningless recommended replacement name Dublin-Rathdown; and if he will make a statement on the matter?

Reply

The Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012, published on 5 October 2012, proposes to give statutory effect to the recommendations in the Constituency Commission Report 2012. The Bill provides for a reduction to 158 in the total number of members of Dáil Éireann, for the revision of Dáil constituencies and for the number of members to be elected for such constituencies.

In publishing this Bill the Government has accepted in full the recommendations in the Constituency Commission report. This is consistent with established practice since the first independent constituency commission reported in 1980. The determination of Dáil constituencies is a matter for the Oireachtas to prescribe in legislation. I look forward to debating the Bill in the Oireachtas.