Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I agree with the Minister. There is a danger that, in setting up SIPO, we have created a form of bureaucratic monster. For those of us who are in the political arena, the amount of paperwork through which one now must go quite meticulously to ensure that one does not make mistakes is comprehensive. That is the era in which we live of openness, accountability and transparency. In principle, I have no difficulty with that whatsoever.

Now that there is in place this new regime of intolerance, if I could use that word, towards those who might have been tempted to corrupt the political system and who will be thwarted in their efforts because of the comprehensive nature of this legislation, would the Minister give some consideration during his term of office to placing an extra responsibility on the printed and electronic media to get the message out in terms of the democratic process? Now that these donations have been reduced considerably and the opportunity for significant contributions has been reduced considerably, there will be a greater burden placed on individuals putting themselves forward for election. There is always a danger that in this new era of intolerance towards assumed corrupt politicians we could throw the baby out with the bath water. Not all donations were corrupt, not all donations were legitimate and not all contributions individuals made were on a personal basis. I, admittedly not much, was subject to it down through the years, particularly at local authority level where neighbours and friends would like to make a contribution to help one out. In that regard, I am sure I am not unique among those who served at local authority level. All of that now must be accounted for, there must be a paper trail and it is considerably reduced, which puts an extra financial burden on those wishing to enter and participate in the democratic process.

We are fortunate to not have a system like that in American. We will not have political action committees out there spending millions of euro nor, thankfully, do we allow widespread advertising on radio and television or in the media to the same extent as in America. However, there is a need for collective responsibility here. Having put this legislation in place, the Minister might give some consideration - maybe it is not within his brief and it must be done at Cabinet level - to its impact as it works itself through the political system and the civic society, and that there might be some greater responsibility placed on the printed and electronic media. At present, there are the standard broadcasts, particularly on RTE and on local media. Maybe the expansion of that might be looked at. There might a requirement to have more current affairs and political programmes during election campaigns rather than merely leaving it to the individuals. I am not trying to control editorial policy, either of the newspapers or the electronic media, but merely raising the issue that there is a need to ensure that in a democratic society the message of those who are standing for election and parties which wish to put forward their point of view to the general public be given every possible support in this regard, and that this legislation should not be seen as inhibiting that in any way.