Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Suiter and Dr. Reidy for being with us today. This is a little bit like the bus we have all been waiting for and now that it has arrived we want it to be the best response to what we have been waiting on for a long time. At a previous meeting with the Department, I acknowledged the importance of this legislation, the delivery of it and the work that took placed in the Department under the previous Government. There are two areas of concern I would like the witnesses to speak to. I am persuaded by both the governance and ambition arguments made.

Two issues of concern for me are the management of the local register and political advertising. It would appear that in this legislation we are permitting political advertising from organisations which are largely multinational and do not have a strong track record of preventing interference in elections. On the other hand, we have independent radio stations and Irish television channels prevented from gaining that advertising revenue. I am not making the argument we should have that advertising but is there a case to be made for preventing online advertising during elections?

The second question is on the management of the register. It would appear we are leaving the responsibility and the resource at local authority level but some sort of oversight or management function with the commission. What potentials for error do the witnesses see in the management of that process?