The brass neck of this government to continue to deny full Dail representation to voters in three different constituencies is truly breathtaking. It was always unlikely that they’d be stirred into action by opposition efforts to force their hand, but their arrogance reached new heights during last week’s Fine Gael motion that would compel all future governments to hold a by-election within six months of a vacancy arising.

John Gormley’s contention that this didn’t take into account unforeseen events or emergencies such as swine flu or foot and mouth disease was perhaps his most cynical offering since his elevation into government – and that’s saying something.

There is an argument of course that we shouldn’t have anywhere near 166 Deputies in the first place but until such time as electoral reform stretches to a culling of TDs, the seats that are there should be filled. Thankfully this current democratic deficit doesn’t affect either of the Galway constituencies, but the people of Donegal South West, Waterford and Dublin South are being denied their right to a replacement TD because the government knows they have no chance of winning any of the three seats.

That’s not just because of the current economic climate; a sitting government hasn’t won a by-election since Noel Treacy was elected in Galway East to replace the late Johnny Callanan in July 1982. And Deputy Treacy’s place is the record books isn’t likely to be usurped any time soon. The TÁnaiste Mary Coughlan said the by-election in Donegal would be called in due course but the government is currently focusing energies on tackling economic issues. The Taoiseach was less diplomatic when he told RTE’s Sean O’Rourke not to even worry about it.

Both interventions smack of desperation, particularly when one of their own backbenchers Peter Power told last week’s Dail debate on the matter that he believed voters should not be deprived of their Dail representation in this way. Of course Fine Gael’s urgings for speedy by-elections are in marked contrast to their own efforts at electoral reform when they had their own hands on the tiller in the past, but that doesn’t undermine the validity of their argument now.

If the by-elections turn out to be three regional confidence votes on the current government, so be it – the essence of democracy is the right of the people to have their say. Equally there is no guarantee that the seats will automatically go to either of the two main opposition parties; the people of Dublin South, for example, might be a little more circumspect if they were presented with another celebrity broadcaster masquerading as a politician next time out.

That said, any scenario is almost certain to reduce the government’s majority in the house – and that has obvious repercussions as further cuts are brought to the table. We saw the ridiculous decision last year, in the midst of the biggest economic crisis ever experienced by the state, with existing hospital wards closing up and down the country, Independent TD Jackie Healy Rae was able to extract a commitment from government to the development of a 40-bed Community hospital in Kenmare.

No disrespect to the good people of Kerry, but surely the maintenance of existing facilities should be more of a priority than a promise of a new hospital in return for a Dail vote.

That’s the sort of parish pump politics the government will have to resort to more than ever as their majority is whittled away – and that’s why they want to avoid cutting their majority by anything up to three seats on foot of these by-elections. The classic ‘kick to touch’ in such circumstances is the establishment of a working committee – and lo and behold up steps John Gormley with a proposal for another electoral commission ‘to deal with referendums and all elections’.

Not surprisingly he described this as a major task – by which he probably means time consuming, so that in the end they’d be hardpressed to reach a consensus before the end of the current Dail anyway. The world won’t stop revolving because we’re three TDs down out of 166, but it is a slap in the face for democracy and an insult to the electorate of three constituencies. The government has filibustered and blustered long enough on this already – let’s have the by-elections and, if the figures don’t add up for government after that, then let’s have a General Election for good measure.