Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009

The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009 (No. 4) is a law of Ireland which amended electoral law, including revisions to Dáil constituencies and European Parliament constituencies in light of the 2006 census.[1] The new European Parliament constituencies were used at the election in June 2009. The revision to Dáil constituencies took effect on the dissolution of the 30th Dáil on 1 February 2011 and a general election for the 31st Dáil on the revised constituencies took place on 25 February 2011.

Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009
Oireachtas
  • AN ACT TO REVISE DÁIL AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONSTITUENCIES, TO PROVIDE FOR THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS TO BE ELECTED FOR SUCH CONSTITUENCIES, TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO THE CONSTITUENCY COMMISSION, AND FOR THOSE AND OTHER PURPOSES TO AMEND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS ACT 1997 AND CERTAIN OTHER ENACTMENTS, TO AMEND AND GIVE STATUTORY EFFECT TO THE LOCAL ELECTIONS REGULATIONS 1995 AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS
CitationNo. 4 of 2009
Signed24 February 2009
Commenced24 February 2009 & 1 February 2011
Legislative history
Bill citationNo. 38 of 2008
Introduced byMinister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (John Gormley)
Introduced27 June 2008
Amends
Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005
Amended by
Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013

Revision to constituencies

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In April 2007, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government established an independent Constituency Commission under the terms of the Electoral Act 1997.[2] Its report proposed several changes to Dáil constituencies. The commission was chaired by Iarfhlaith O'Neill, judge of the High Court, and delivered its report later in 2007.[3]

The Act implemented the recommendations of this report and repealed the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1998, which had defined constituencies since the 2007 general election.[4] The size of the Dáil remained at 166, arranged in 43 constituencies.

The Dáil constituencies in this Act were repealed by the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013, which created a new schedule of constituencies first used at the 2016 general election for the 32nd Dáil held on 26 February 2016.[5]

Electoral law amendments

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The Act amended the provisions of the Electoral Act 1997 on the establishment of the Constituency Commission to provide that it would be established on the release of preliminary results of the census.[6] This was in response to finding of the High Court in Murphy v. Minister for Environment (2007).[7] It also amended the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 and the Local Elections Regulations to amend the provisions for the nomination of Independent candidates. This was in response to the finding of the Supreme Court in Cooney v. Minister for the Environment (2006).[8][9]

Constituencies for the 31st Dáil

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Explanation of columns

  • Constituency: The name of the constituency.
  • Created: The year of the election when a constituency of the same name was last created.
  • Seats: The number of TDs elected from the constituency under the Act.
  • Change: Change in the number of seats since the last distribution of seats (which took effect in 2007).
Constituency[10] Created Seats Change
Carlow–Kilkenny 1948 5 none
Cavan–Monaghan 1977 5 none
Clare 1921 4 none
Cork East 1981 4 none
Cork North-Central 1981 4 none
Cork North-West 1981 3 none
Cork South-Central 1981 5 none
Cork South-West 1961 3 none
Donegal North-East 1981 3 none
Donegal South-West 1981 3 none
Dublin Central 1981 4 none
Dublin Mid-West 2002 4 none
Dublin North 1981 4 none
Dublin North-Central 1948 3 none
Dublin North-East 1981 3 none
Dublin North-West 1981 3 none
Dublin South 1981 5 none
Dublin South-Central 1948 5 none
Dublin South-East 1948 4 none
Dublin South-West 1981 4 none
Dublin West 1981 4 +1
Dún Laoghaire 1977 4 −1
Galway East 1977 4 none
Galway West 1937 5 none
Kerry North–West Limerick 2011 3 plus 3
Kerry South 1937 3 none
Kildare North 1997 4 none
Kildare South 1997 3 none
Laois–Offaly 2007 5 none
Limerick 2011 3 plus 3
Limerick City 2011 4 plus 4
Longford–Westmeath 2007 4 none
Louth 1923 5 +1
Mayo 1997 5 none
Meath East 2007 3 none
Meath West 2007 3 none
Roscommon–South Leitrim 2007 3 none
Sligo–North Leitrim 2007 3 none
Tipperary North 1948 3 none
Tipperary South 1948 3 none
Waterford 1923 4 none
Wexford 1921 5 none
Wicklow 1923 5 none

Summary of changes

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This table summarises changes in representation. It does not address revisions to the boundaries of constituencies.

Constituency Created Seats Change
Dublin West 1981 4 +1 seat
Dún Laoghaire 1977 4 −1 seat
Kerry North 1937 3 abolished
Kerry North–West Limerick 2011 3 new constituency
Limerick 2011 3 new constituency
Limerick City 2011 4 new constituency
Limerick East 1948 5 abolished
Limerick West 1948 3 abolished
Louth 1923 5 +1 seat

There were further boundary changes to 18 constituencies: Cork East, Cork North-Central, Cork North-West, Donegal North-East, Donegal South-West, Dublin North, Dublin North-Central, Dublin North-East, Dublin South, Kerry South, Kildare North, Kildare South, Laois–Offaly, Meath East, Meath West, Roscommon–South Leitrim, Sligo–North Leitrim and Tipperary North.

European Parliament constituencies

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The constituencies below replaced the constituencies which were in operation at the 2004 European Parliament election, with a reduction in the total number of seats from 13 to 12 in light of the increased size of the European Parliament on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union in 2007.

They were in turn replaced by the European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2014, with a reduced number of seats to 11 for the 2014 European Parliament election, following the accession of Croatia in 2013.[11]

Constituency[12] Seats Change Area
Dublin 3 −1 The counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin; and the city of Dublin.
East 3 none The counties of Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Wexford and Wicklow.
North-West 3 none The counties of: Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath; and the city of Galway.
South 3 none The counties of: County Cork, Kerry, Limerick, North Tipperary, South Tipperary and Waterford; and the cities of Cork, Limerick and Waterford.

References

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  1. ^ "Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009". Irish Statute Book database. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  2. ^ Constituency Commission (Establishment) Order 2007 (S.I. No. 174 of 2007). Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Report on Dáil and European Parliament Constituencies 2007" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 23 October 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  4. ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009, s. 6: Repeal (No. 4 of 2009, s. 6). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 8 December 2021.
  5. ^ Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013, s. 5: Repeal (No. 7 of 2013, s. 5). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 16 December 2021.
  6. ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009, s. 9: Substitution of Part II of Electoral Act 1997 (No. 4 of 2009, s. 9). Enacted on 24 February 2009. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 16 December 2021.
  7. ^ Murphy v. Minister For Environment [2007] IEHC H185, [2008] 3 I.R. 438 (7 June 2007), High Court (Ireland)
  8. ^ Cooney v. Minister for the Environment [2006] IESC S61, [2007] 1 I.R. 296 (13 November 2006), Supreme Court (Ireland)
  9. ^ "Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage – Dáil Éireann (30th Dáil)". Houses of the Oireachtas. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  10. ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009, Schedule (No. 4 of 2009, Schedule). Enacted on 24 February 2009. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 16 December 2021.
  11. ^ European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2014, s. 3: Substitution of Third Schedule to Principal Act (No. 2 of 2014, s. 3). Enacted on 5 February 2014. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 16 December 2021.
  12. ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009, s. 8: Substitution of Third Schedule to European Parliament Elections Act 1997 (No. 4 of 2009, s. 8). Enacted on 24 February 2009. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 16 December 2021.