Thanks, it's not sarcasm. So what decisions do local electorates do? I am assuming these are all councillors when elected. It does seem odd though that TD's do not do what the electorate people want but do as the party whip wants.
Also where do Senators fall into this?
Those elected to the councils are responsible for the council budget and provision of council services - such as social housing, libraries, local road maintenance, municipal waste disposal, etc. They will not be the people delivering the actual service but they are the ones that direct it. If you want to have a look at how the councils spend their money you could do worse than look at this site
http://localauthorityfinances.com/
TD's and Senators deal with, or should be dealing with national issues and are responsible for representing their constituents at national level if they are TDs - hence the reason for constituency practices. You should be able to access your TDs and represent to them your views. Senators are elected by a different means. In theory it is supposed to be a house of experts in specific fields (academia, industry, labour, agriculture, culture and public administration) providing a deeper knowledge to contribute expertise to debates on new laws. In practice it has been heavily politicised and roundly abused by governments.
- 11 are appointed by the Taoiseach (Bertie was fond of using that privilege to appoint old cronies who had failed to get elected as TDs)
- 6 are elected by NUI and TCD graduates (this is to be extended to all 3rd level graduates)
- The other 43 are elected by TDs, senators and councillors from panels of candidates who can only be nominated by Oireachtas members and specific nominating bodies.
On your point about them following the party whip rather than their electors, how would you propose they proceed if they need to consult the electorate for every vote they have to take? It would be utterly unworkable if for every vote that has to be taken in Dáil Éireann each TD had to hold a plebiscite in their constituency to check how they should vote. Generally they will follow their own assessment of the situation. They are not obliged to follow the party whip, they can, as for example Lucinda Creighton did, opt to vote against their own party's position despite the party whip and then the party can decide whether to allow that or to expel them. No party can expel them from the Dáil, they can only expel them from their own party. In practice TD's can and do vote against their own party's position, the party whip does not always apply. In general though, they are likely to reason the same way as their party colleagues, hence the reason they are in the same party. Chances are the people that elected them will also likely reason the same way - hence the reason they voted for them or their party.