Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I ask the Minister to clarify one aspect of the section. The Bill introduces a number of expenditure limits, which reduce based on a perception of constituency sizes and other factors. I am interested in the thought process which produced these figures. Why was an expenditure limit of €15,000 rather than €20,000 or €12,000 selected? Has a mystical measure of which I am unaware been used to determine this ideal expenditure of a candidate? What elements were factored in to arriving at this determination?

Was a calculation done of the number of leaflets a candidate may have printed at a particular cost? Is it no longer acceptable for candidates to have posters on lamp posts? If not, was a costing done of how many types of posters could be used or whether such posters should be in colour print or black and white? Did anyone factor in the cost to a candidate who takes his or her own photographs for his or her posters or has them done by friends or relations? Has a costing been done for a professional photographer?

What is the position when supporters of a candidate have a picture of a candidate erected in their gardens? Has a costing been done of the wood one would have to pay for to erect such a presentation? While I have not engaged in this practice, a number of candidates appear to believe having such displays in gardens is a good idea. I would prefer to see tulips and daffodils growing than see pictures of candidates emerging from behind garden walls, which some people may find scary late at night. How was the figure arrived at?

What is the position regarding a candidate who may not benefit from the media assistance frequently available to members of large and even small parties? An independent candidate with a good idea who needs help to get it across may need help to deal with the searching questions he or she will be asked should he or she be fortunate enough to do something of such vital national interest as to end up on "Morning Ireland" or something so daft as to end up on "Liveline" with Joe Duffy. He or she may need to be careful about how to approach the issues. To what extent has this been factored in to the calculations?

Has consideration been given, for example, to a media savvy candidate, perhaps someone who has been involved in the broadcasting world, possibly as a journalist, and has media expertise? Why is the expenditure limit of such candidates not reduced by a certain percentage to take account of their media expertise and training? Presumably if a candidate receives some form of media training within the period designated in the section, this cost will form part of his or her expenditure. Perhaps that will not be the case.

I am curious about how we got to these magical figures and the extent to which thought has been given to the types of thing people do. For example — I do not know whether the Leas-Cheann Comhairle or the Minister has done this — many people give gifts at election time to attract the attention of the electorate. Gifts of pencils and pens are becoming increasingly common; in fact, if one is very lucky and happens to bump into a sufficient number of candidates, one can get enough to last until the next election, which saves one having to spend between elections. During the last election campaign candidates were handing out brown paper bags with their parties' logos on them to assist shoppers. How many of those are appropriate for a local election candidate to purchase? To what extent is this factored in to the Bill? There are many gimmicky things candidates like to do, some of which one should probably not refer to in this House as they are somewhat towards the exotic end of things, although such spending tends to be incurred during Seanad elections rather then local government elections.

I am curious as to how we got to this point and whether the Minister recognises that this is not in fact a level playing field. As people from different backgrounds and with different levels of training and support take part in election campaigns, the playing field can never be level. What the provisions actually do is to try to ensure those whose parties are in Government, who have media training or are involved in the media, or who have a pal who is a PR consultant get their messages across much more effectively than other candidates while spending the same as them. The other candidates are denied the possibility of purchasing such expertise when they are not lucky enough to have the right friends in the right places.

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