A number of referendums are planned for a single day in November, which I support. Should we have an additional two referendums on that day? The first is on the rapidly rising population in Ireland. There is a constitutional requirement for a Deputy for every 20,000 to 30,000 people. In 20 years' time, if the projections are correct, we could have 200 Deputies in this Chamber which is unsustainable. November is an opportunity for us to get ahead of that trend.

Second, there is a constitutional cap of 15 senior Cabinet Ministers. That has meant that some Ministers have a wide variety of portfolios, which are unrelated. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is a classic example of this. Should November be an opportunity to increase slightly the number of Cabinet Ministers to improve governance?

In combination, both these proposals would drastically reduce costs to the taxpayer. I would be grateful for the Taoiseach's thoughts on that.

That was a very thoughtful sentiment, Deputy.

I thank the Deputy for a thoughtful question and for what I view to be two very valid suggestions. The population is increasing and, therefore, the Dáil will continue to increase in size. At some point, we will have to put a limit on that. I do not think the figure of 180 is too big, but the figure of 250 would certainly be and 200 would probably be as well. As Government has expanded and does more and more, we probably are stretched with Ministers having to carry multiple briefs which would not have been the case in the same way in the past. However, this kind of issue probably requires cross-party discussion. Perhaps we should do that. I would not rush into a referendum on any kind of political reform without knowing that there is a decent level of consensus. However, it is a good suggestion and I thank the Deputy for it.