Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

Deputy Shatter has raised a very valid point. These issues are never straightforward. One of the problems with bringing the Bill before the House so late in the day is that we cannot properly tease them out.

Deputy Shatter has raised some valid concerns. There is an issue with Government machinery and taxpayers' money being used to promote Government parties. It is done in many different ways. I can recall departmental advertising campaigns that would use the Minister to front such campaigns. This is wrong. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is running a campaign to raise awareness on climate change, at a cost of €5 million per year, but there is an element to this campaign that is about promoting the Green Party and its brand, as Deputy Shatter pointed out. The Green Party has branded itself on the issue of climate change. There are ethical issues to this. The Green Party should take these issues on board as much as the Opposition.

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