Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I fail to learn the lesson of going before Deputy Michael D. Higgins, which I should. Coming after him is never an easy task. He says I am up to it so I have to put my best foot forward.

The Deputy is right that this is a joyless piece of legislation. It is about restriction. No one is saying that we should not have regulation. Of course we should, and we should have openness and transparency. We should put in place a system to ensure that people comply with the rules as laid down.

However, the rules laid down with regard to posters are ridiculous. Posters are not litter. They are the mechanism by which we transmit a message to those we hope will vote for us. That goes for all of us. It seems the Green Party is, in some way, ashamed to be involved in politics and hopes to unburden its shame on the rest of us. I have no problem telling people I am a politician. It is hard to deny it because people know I am. I have no problem in saying it because politics is a noble art.

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