Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach misunderstood the nature of the question. I will take the opportunity to make a few points in the context of it.

While in international terms Ireland has highly independent and regulated elections, we are only beginning to get our act together in referendums. International experience shows that overseas attempts to interfere in votes are increasing rapidly. The work of and communication from the Referendum Commission to all citizens will be crucial as they will inform all homes objectively of what is being proposed.

In this House we all accept that the issue of the eighth amendment is deeply personal and complex. Given recent polls, there is still a large number of people who are undecided and who will make up their minds in the next three weeks. I have been on doorsteps in different contexts and it is interesting that the issue is beginning to go live with people voicing more about it. Clearly, they are asking questions. The point is they are now engaging at the door, which is welcome.

The debate so far has been respectful on all sides. However, in today's press it has been revealed that billboards with graphic and upsetting images have been placed outside maternity hospitals by a group which appears to be non-Irish and outside all regulatory oversight. The campaign is so extreme that it has even been attacked by a spokesperson for the part of the "No" campaign led by some of the main personalities in Youth Defence, an organisation not known for respecting boundaries in promoting its views.

There is, of course, what appears to be a tidal wave of online advertising, some of which does not link with a regulated Irish organisation. Given the roles of the Referendum Commission and the Standards in Public Office Commission, will the Taoiseach consider asking them at this point to track activity which they believe might raise concerns about the origins of the funding or other efforts to avoid Irish electoral law?

See this speech in context