Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

I have not come across that. The Minister of State is well ahead of the game where these sites are concerned; he was blogging and doing all sorts of other wonderful things before I had even heard of them.

It is important that we have robust debates about how the media are affecting and will affect society. Senator Quinn referred to the potential of buying up programming for political broadcasts on radio. That would be dangerous. On visits tothe United States, I have viewed a ridiculous amount of negative political advertising. It is all about how bad and appalling the other guys are; it is not about getting positive messages across. Ridiculous amounts are spent on radio and television advertising by political parties in the United States which does not bear thinking about. If such advertising was allowed in an Irish context, it would make it almost impossible for any party other than the two main parties to exist. While they and possibly the Labour Party which might have a little more funding than my party might welcome it, politics should be about local issues and working with the people at grassroots level. It should not be about national broadcasts, as is the case in the United States. The influence the broadcast media has on society needs to be constantly reviewed and we need to examine carefully where we are going in this regard. The BAI is necessary, but I fear it will have to change enormously to survive.