Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, I join with others in welcoming the decision taken by Facebook not to allow advertisements relating to the referendum that are paid for by foreign bodies or foreign entities. That is a welcome measure on its part. While Google has gone a bit further and is not accepting advertisements to do with the referendum altogether, I think Facebook has made the right decision to not accept advertisements paid for by bodies from other countries. Whether advertisements are for a yes vote or a no vote, we all hold by the principle that foreign money should not be used to influence elections and referendums in this country. The decision Facebook has made in that regard is very welcome. Perhaps it could have come sooner but it has come and is very welcome.

I share Deputy Pringle's concerns about some of the posters we have seen around the country, some of which are extraordinarily inaccurate in the claims made on them and some of which are, frankly, quite grotesque. I have often spoken to parents on the campaign trail whose children have asked them to explain the images on the posters and what the posters mean. For people who purport to be concerned about children, putting parents in a position where they have to explain these things to children based on the images on the posters says a lot about their true motivations and hearts.

It has never been the case in Ireland that we have regulated people's posters. If we were to regulate people's posters we might also argue in favour of regulating literature because the same kind of images that appear on posters can also be put on literature put through doors. We need some consideration of the issue, perhaps on an all-party basis, but it would be a big move to give any authority to ourselves, or even to an electoral commission or referendum commission when established, to decide what sorts of posters and literature are allowed and what sorts are not. It could start from very good intentions but move on to become a restriction on democracy and freedom of speech. If we do anything like that we would need to do it on an all-party basis. Perhaps the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government, which covers electoral matters, could give some consideration to the issue after this referendum.

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