Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister's assurance that he will bring forward a Bill to address the expenditure side. That is a huge part of the issue and is part of the problem Senator Mullen is alluding to, namely, they spend as much as they wish. I disagree with Senator Mullen in respect of having an upper limit for personal donations because that means that people with wealthy friends they can collect as much as they wish. The best way to deal with that is on the expenditure side to ensure that whether one is spending one's own money, that of one's friends or corporate donations, which we would prefer were not allowed, everybody is brought down to the lowest possible limit. That is where the real change is needed.

On the broader issue and before we deal with specific amendments, the Minister will be aware that our party has proposed legislation on lobbying. As part of the broader debate we are having here on transparency I hope the Minister would reflect on that because it is another important issue in terms of transparency and trust in politics.