Constitutional Referendum on the Number of Members of Dáil Éireann: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-25
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Laura Harmon (LAB), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I welcome the debate on this issue. It is always good for us to discuss political reform. It is an important debate to have. I am not in favour of a hard cap on the number of TD places. We need to absolutely ensure we are not reducing representation in any way in the ratio of TD to population. As mentioned earlier, we are quite unique in that our public representatives are very accessible and we need to ensure we keep it that way in terms of how the public can access us.
If we were to look at this measure, it should not be looked at on its own. We need to look at the work of councillors, that is empowering county and city councils to do more at a local level. I also favour bringing back town councils. We need to make sure there is more power with local councillors. They do not have staff, for example, and are not properly remunerated.
It depends on which projections of population one looks at, but the CSO says that potentially by 2058, if we were to work off the same ratio, we would require 192 TDs. That is more than 30 years away. It depends on which population predictions are looked at and there a lot of variables but I do not see that as a massive increase.
There should be public consultation on boundary changes, as opposed to having them imposed. It is unfair on areas that are moved around frequently from constituency to constituency, with the change in representatives and the constituencies they are part of. We should move away from three-seater constituencies and we should allow six-seater constituencies.
Other political reform issues we should look at as part of a wider suite include a fixed term parliament so the electorate knows when the elections will be set - that is done in other countries - automatic voter registration, votes at 16, extending the franchise and Seanad reform, which is overdue and needed. We need to open up the franchise for the Seanad. We had the referendum on the Seanad, which passed by a small margin. I campaigned for the retention of the Seanad back in 2012 and 2013. I do not think the cost saving argument stands up. That was the argument used for the abolition of the Seanad. A price cannot be put on democracy. We need more democracy, not less, particularly with what is happening in a global context at the moment.
We have to think about a united Ireland, the prospect that re-unification of the island could be imminent - in the coming years - and what it would mean for representation. Would we have regional assemblies? What would the Cabinet look like? It would be premature to have a referendum on this issue at the moment.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-25