Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I am trying to be helpful. We did not introduce such legislation previously for local elections because they are a different type of election. Under the current arrangement for European and general elections, there are spending limits and repayment arrangements. It is not as simple as some people suggest. We do not want a situation to develop where there is an unfair burden on local election candidates. There is a need to work out the detail and examine how it could be done in a way that does not cause as big a problem as the one it seeks to solve.

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