Dr. Theresa Reidy:

I am sorry. That was on compulsory voting, which was also raised by Deputy Ó Broin. Very briefly, compulsory voting is in place in a small number of European countries and it is most notably used in Australia. It means there are very high levels of turnout and compliance is important. In general, the view is that participation should be voluntary. In my view, I believe we should be looking at ways of facilitating voters before we go down the road of making it compulsory.

There is a philosophical reason behind compulsory voting, which is that the views of all citizens should be reflected in the political system before us. In a lot of European countries we have tended to emphasise candidacy in relation to that point. We have, for example, looked at gender quotas and steps to address bringing people from minority backgrounds into politics.

Our emphasis has been on the supply side, whereas countries that have compulsory voting get at that in a different way in that they ensure all voters vote. In that way, one might get a political system that reflects the diversity of societies. If one looks at Australia, that is not necessarily what has happened in its politics. It may be more diverse than it is in Ireland but it is not fully diverse. There is a philosophical argument behind this that can be teased out. We have tended to emphasise candidacy, while other countries have opted for compulsory voting. There is definitely something to be said for us looking at facilitation and helping voters before we go down the road of compulsion. If we were to go down the road of compulsory voting, we would have to be absolutely certain we could facilitate all voters.

Was the second question in regard to political advertising?