Laois will be a three-seater constituency for the next General Election, following the recommendations of the Electoral Commission which have been made public this morning.
Laois-Offaly was a five-seater constituency in 2020 – but Portarlington, Killenard and Ballybrittas were all moved to Kildare South to make that a four-seater.
All those three areas have now moved back into Laois for the next General Election which will take place no later than early February 2025.
Population changes shown in the most recent Census means that there is enough in Laois on its own now to be a three-seater, as there is in Offaly.
In 2016 the two counties were separate constituencies for the first time in the history of the state – but on that occasion, Laois needed a portion of Kildare including Monasterevin and rural areas near Athy.
Offaly required a segment of North Tipperary but the increased population of both counties mean that they are now standalone constituencies without areas from neighbouring counties.
According to the Constitution, there must be one TD to every 20,000 to 30,000 people. Currently there is one TD to every 32,182 people.
The Electoral Commission, which reports to the Oireachtas, were tasked with balancing out the constituencies but could not introduce six-seaters – all must be three, four or five-seaters.
In all it means that there will be 174 TDs in the next Dail as compared to 160 now.
In relation to Laois, the Electoral Commission said they considered the “breach of county boundaries” when drawing up the new constituency.
As it stands there are three TDs in Laois already – Brian Stanley (Sinn Fein), Sean Fleming (Fianna Fail) and Charlie Flanagan (Fine Gael) – in Laois-Offaly, while the Portarlington-based Cathal Berry (Independent) is in Kildare South.
In Offaly, there are two TDs – Carol Nolan (Independent) and Barry Cowen (Fianna Fail).
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