James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The referendum was hotly contested on both sides, and rightly so. That is democracy in action. It did give rise, however, to a number of issues around campaigning, and not just online campaigning which we talked about previously: the plethora of posters and whether there should be limits; the broadcasting ban on TV and radio, the fact that political advertisements are not permitted, and whether that is relevant in the modern age; and the fact that spending caps do not exist in referendums, which they do in elections. All of those questions would be best tackled by an electoral commission, which is in the programme for Government 2016 and was in the Fine Gael manifesto in 2011. Seven years on, however, we do not have one. Where does that sit and will it commence shortly? It would be very useful to tackle many of the issues that are emerging.

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