Dáil may need extra TDs following Census findings

At least one extra Dáil seat will be up for grabs in the next general election as the growth in population has pushed the number of people per TD over the 30,000 legal threshold.

It means a fresh headache for the Constituency Commission, which redrew the electoral map for this year’s general election to cut constituency numbers from 43 to 40 and the number of TDs from 166 to 158.

By law, the population-TD ratio cannot exceed 30,000-1 and based on the 2011 Census, 158 was enough seats to provide a TD for every 29,000 people. The new Census puts the average at 30,114.