Cut the number of TDs by half and save millions

WE are grossly over-represented by the number of TDs elected to the Dáil. Two examples clearly show this.

Firstly for a population of approximately 4.5 million we have 166 TDs – that is one for just over 27,000 people. In England, the greater Birmingham area has a population of 1,010,000 (approx) and elects 11 MPs – or one for every 91,800.

In Cork, the two city constituencies (which contain parts of the county) hardly exceed 250,000 people and they elect 10 TDs – or one for 25,000 or less.

In contrast, Manchester has a population of 458,000 and elects five MPs, or half the number of MPs for almost twice the population.

Similar figures apply to other EU countries. For anything to be done about this, two problems arise.

Firstly, our constitution says we should have one TD for not less than 20,000 or more than 30,000 people. When the constitution was adopted more than 70 years ago Ireland was a much different place. Road, transport and communication systems were vastly inferior, rural areas still awaited electricity, cars were scare, phones were scarcer and radios were a luxury.

Nowadays there are more phones than people in the country; there is at least one car, if not two or more, outside almost every house, while radios and TVs are everywhere.

Clearly, the need for so many TDs no longer exists. Changing the parameters to one TD for something like not fewer than 50,000 or more than 75,000 would mean anything from 60 to 90 TDs – which should be ample.

Between salaries and unvouched expenses several of the present number of TDs cost up to €300,000 a year. Reducing their number to, say, 80 would save the taxpayers anything up to €25 million a year. One must wonder if voters realise this. The second problem is that the people who can do anything about it, as things stand, are the TDs themselves and the saying about turkeys and Christmas comes to mind. However, if sufficient pressure was brought to bear by the people and the media on the politicians, they would have to conform. Taxpayers are made to suffer enough and it is time politicians discovered what it is like.

Brendan Hurley

Nursery Drive

Ballinlough

Cork