Legislation on constituency boundary changes and TD increase likely to be passed before Christmas

Legislation on constituency boundary changes and an increase in the number of TDs is likely to be passed before Christmas, the High Court has heard.

Last week, former Labour TD Joe Costello highlighted the potential threat of legal action if an election is called without the relevant laws.

A newly elected Dáil would leave itself open to a constitutional challenge without passing the legislation first, he argued.

The urgency of his case diminished with the avoidance of a pre-Christmas election and the Government has since moved to have the law amended as soon as possible.