Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. I note there is already regulation of posters in certain areas in this country. For example, Dublin City Council regulates politicians' posters. They have to be submitted to Dublin City Council so that it can have a look at them. It then decides whether they can be put up or not. They cannot be offensive or anything else like that.

It is possible to regulate posters and this begs the question as to why the posters in question have not been regulated. That may be a separate question. It is not enough, however, to share the annoyance and upset of people in respect of this issue. It has to be addressed. Doing so is vital.

The matter is probably more stark in the run-up to the forthcoming referendum. It is a referendum campaign that is dividing people and generating strong opinions on both sides. That is different from what happens during most elections. In most elections, our faces are on the posters. People might find them offensive but that is a different story. We really should be capable of dealing with the images used on posters. If Facebook and Google can do it in respect online patterns, why can we not do it with postering in this country?

See this speech in context