Dan Boyle (Green Party)

The reality is that when such a sum is spent, be it in the accounting period or not and even if campaigning begins the day after the previous election, it is still a phenomenal and unacceptable sum of money. In political life, people need to be confident that their efforts, knocking on doors and meeting people, the power of their ideas and the force of their personalities will be the determining factors in their being elected. Legislation such as this is needed to ensure other factors cannot come into play.