| Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Oireachtas | |
| |
| Citation | No. 4 of 2009 |
| Signed | 24 February 2009 |
| Commenced | 24 February 2009 & 1 February 2011 |
| Legislative history | |
| Bill citation | No. 38 of 2008 |
| Introduced by | Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (John Gormley) |
| Introduced | 27 June 2008 |
| Amends | |
| Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005 | |
| Amended by | |
| Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013 | |
TheElectoral (Amendment) Act 2009 (No. 4) is alaw of Ireland which amendedelectoral law, including revisions toDáil constituencies andEuropean Parliament constituencies in light of the 2006 census.[1] The new European Parliament constituencies were used at theelection in June 2009. The revision to Dáil constituencies took effect on the dissolution of the30th Dáil on 1 February 2011 and ageneral election for the31st Dáil on the revised constituencies took place on 25 February 2011.
In April 2007, theMinister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government established an independentConstituency 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 theHigh Court, and delivered its report later in 2007.[3]
The Act implemented the recommendations of this report and repealed theElectoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1998, which had defined constituencies since the2007 general election.[4] The size of the Dáil remained at 166, arranged in 43 constituencies.
The Dáil constituencies in this Act were repealed by theElectoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013, which created a new schedule of constituencies first used at the2016 general election for the32nd Dáil held on 26 February 2016.[5]
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 theHigh Court inMurphy 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 ofIndependent candidates. This was in response to the finding of theSupreme Court inCooney v. Minister for the Environment (2006).[8][9]
Explanation of columns
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 andTipperary North.
The constituencies below replaced the constituencies which were in operation at the2004 European Parliament election, with a reduction in the total number of seats from 13 to 12 in light of the increased size of theEuropean Parliament on the accession ofBulgaria andRomania to theEuropean 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 the2014 European Parliament election, following the accession ofCroatia in 2013.[11]
| Constituency[12] | Seats | Change | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | 3 | −1 | The counties ofDún Laoghaire–Rathdown,Fingal andSouth Dublin; and the city ofDublin. |
| East | 3 | none | The counties ofCarlow,Kildare,Kilkenny,Laois,Louth,Meath,Offaly,Wexford andWicklow. |
| North-West | 3 | none | The counties of:Cavan,Clare,Donegal,Galway,Leitrim,Longford,Mayo,Monaghan,Roscommon,Sligo andWestmeath; and the city ofGalway. |
| South | 3 | none | The counties of:County Cork,Kerry,Limerick,North Tipperary,South Tipperary andWaterford; and the cities ofCork,Limerick andWaterford. |