Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 7, before section 9, to insert the following new section:

"9.—The Schedule to the Act of 1999 is amended in paragraph 1(a) by the insertion after "disseminating such advertising" of "and in this paragraph, 'advertising' in the case of advertising in any newspaper or other periodical publication means advertising in a publication which was first published during the period specified by order under section 12B(1). Regulations under this paragraph may provide for how the publication date of a periodical is to be determined."

In recent years, there have been developments in advertising media during elections. Significant amounts are spent on newspaper advertisements, particularly in free sheets and weekly provincial newspapers. This amendment seeks to establish a clear line for costings for such advertisements.

A weekly newspaper or free sheet may be issued on a Tuesday afternoon but the publication date will be the following Friday. Given that elections take place on Thursday, a week's advertising in that paper is outside the scope of the period of the election. Because of the 60 day period, the publication date can fall in the first week of the period of the election and then fall out at the end depending on when the journal is released.

This must be clarified because it is not uncommon. The last week of an election campaign is the busiest time for newspaper advertising and most spending happens then. The expenditure is accommodated within the legislation and it is a fact that we will be spending money during local election periods. However, we need to determine whether expenditure taking place in the last week in this medium is accounted for and costed.

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