Politics

James McDermott: We are getting more politicians, and we only have ourselves to blame

The government should ask the people if they really want an expanded Dáil, but it won’t

The government could hold a referendum to amend Article 16.2.2 by either increasing the number of people per TD or establishing a fixed-size Dáil. Picture: Rolllingnews

“What Ireland really needs is more politicians,” said no one ever. Despite that complete absence of desire, it seems that Dáil Éireann is about to increase in size, and the blame for this unwanted expansion must be shared equally by every single person in the country.

This gap between supply and demand has been created by two factors. The first is the provisional result of the 2022 census, which showed that the population of Ireland ...