Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In our interaction on online regulation we are having two separate but parallel discussions. One is the regulation of platforms generally, and I am a strong advocate that they be treated as publishers not as platforms. The second is the regulation of online advertisements in elections. Dr. Suiter and Dr. Reidy have both referenced the BAI recommendations. Will they give us a little information about those? We can read the detail of those afterwards but what is the BAI is recommending on that that would be helpful?

Second, will they give us a little more information on the election and referendum research as distinct from the audits? Dr. Suiter and Dr. Reidy have presented to the committee about that work before but members would benefit from knowing about it.

Third, I have just been looking at the annual report of the New Zealand Electoral Commission. Its annual budget in a non-election year is equivalent to €14 million and in an election year, it is equivalent to €44 million. We could be comparing apples with oranges because they could cover many of the costs our local authorities cover in an election year. However €14 million in a non-election year is quite a lot of money when compared with what we are allocating. I am just giving that by way of information because Dr. Reidy raised it.

Finally, there was a question about compulsory voting. If it was answered and I was not listening then the witnesses should ignore it but if not I would appreciate it if they responded because it is a good question. I think it was asked by Senator Fitzpatrick.