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

I was not aware that Dublin City Council had a role in regulating which posters may be put up and which may not. My local authority in Fingal requires that permission be obtained if one wants to put up a poster advertising a public meeting or such an event outside election time. I had thought it was different during election and referendum campaigns, however, and that all local authorities can do is prescribe where posters could not be located, as on roundabouts or in locations where they obscure road signs. Regulating where posters may be placed for reasons of road safety is different from regulating the content of posters, be it the words or images. This is not something we can resolve over the next couple weeks. We could definitely ask the committee to examine it, however. I will certainly ask the Minister of State with responsibility for local government and electoral reform, Deputy Phelan, to determine, after the referendum, what measures could be put in place for future contests.

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