Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ms McMahon has outlined the four E's. We have talked about polling stations. I do not know at what point I became aware that certain behaviour is restricted. Like many others, I would like to be relatively close to a polling station on certain days. We just know how to behave and someone says it. This is a particularly heightened topic and there is a lot of media coverage on it. It seems very reasonable to me that if and when this legislation comes in, potentially with the tweaks that have been suggested by An Garda Síochána and other groups, it will be fairly reasonable to assume, unless people are living under a rock, that they will absorb the regulations around it relatively quickly. One cannot assume there will be intent or bad actors, but it would be reasonable enough to assume the regulations can be disseminated through the populace. We came through a fairly lively referendum not that long ago. It is still quite fresh in people's minds. It is reasonable assume that, with decent communication, people can pick up on what the law is relatively quickly if it is explained well. Certainly, from our perspective we want this to work. We want it to be explained well and we want to be clear. The last thing we want is for someone to break the law accidentally. Part of our responsibility is to work out how it is explained. We will have a job to do in that respect. I am sure all members get communication as to what, where, when and why we are doing something. We will be on the explaining end. I thank the witnesses and appreciate their responses.