Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber again. An issue arises regarding the essence of our democracy. We have had the opportunity in these Chambers to discuss questions about political funding and outside influences in politics. There are a number of points I want to raise. First, a question has to be asked about the donation of €4.6 million. An issue arises over media probing. I challenge the media in that if in the past a donation had been made to a leader of Fianna Fáil, the likes of Vincent Browne would have been exploring in great detail how a gentleman with seemingly no means had over two dozen bank accounts worldwide, including an account in a bank in Singapore with over €1 million. I question why investigative work has not been done by the media in this regard. Part of the problem is that, in all these matters, Sinn Féin is perceived to be above the law and it is not scrutinised to the same extent as other political parties. Every political party should be scrutinised and held to account. Any of us who has dealt with the Standards in Public Office Commission knows the extent to which it goes through all our election returns and asks questions, even about the smallest amounts. We know how long it takes it to address this. We have robust legislation but I believe it needs to go further. I hope the electoral commission legislation will address this.

Senator McGahon referred to money being spent on election workers and so on. I am more concerned about the spending of money on online political advertising. While it is very easy for a party in the North to say it will not be paying for posters and so on down south, expenditure of €4 million on political advertising could have a huge impact on our election. We have noted the polarisation in the United States, much of it driven by online advertising. I encourage those who may not have seen the film "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix to watch it to learn about the polarising effect of online political advertising. I have no doubt, and there is evidence, that Sinn Féin has started to use online political advertising to polarise our society.

My final point is on our debate in general. I would worry if our debate became polarised, with Fine Gael on one side and Sinn Féin on the other. All political parties in this House have different views but it is very difficult when engaging in detailed policy discussion to compete with a fancy meme or a trendy hashtag. From a policy perspective, we have got to ensure, for the safety of our democracy, that we start to protect policy.

I am going to respond to Senator Ó Donnghaile's attack on Fianna Fáil's republican credentials. It is all very easy for Sinn Féin to ask for a Border poll, with no thought about the consequences. The difference between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin is that Fianna Fáil thinks these things through. Sinn Féin decided to campaign against Brexit after the referendum but Fianna Fáil wants to prepare for these issues. In those circumstances, I defend my party's republican record. I defend the fact that we have set up a shared island unit. We can listen to all the slogans and the fighting between Sinn Féin and Fine Gael but I am not going to allow polarisation in politics to develop. Fianna Fáil, as a party at the political centre, will respond with policies.