Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Seanad. I, too, commend Senators Pauline O'Reilly and Garvey on bringing forward this important debate about the future of our democracy. I have sympathy with many of the points that have been made, including some of those excellently advanced by Senator Ward, because although everyone gets tired of seeing places festooned with posters, there are crucial questions that need to be asked in respect of the purpose of posters and whether they have an impact. I agree that posters never got anyone elected. If anything, as those of us who have been candidates will know, particularly in circumstances where a candidate has running mates, it tends to end up with rows about posters and who has put your poster in the wrong area. If a Tidy Towns committee in a candidate's postering area decides to ban posters, his or her running mates will very helpfully inform the committee they will not put posters up in those areas anyway. It has caused lots of rows.

One of the interesting points in respect of election posters that has not been remarked on is that they have a rich social history. I love looking at Alan Kinsella's Irish election literature website. Some of the election posters from the early years of the State were a lot more graphic than those we see today. They tell the story of the State. There are still candidates who are very imaginative in the context of posters. I think of Martin Mansergh, whose posters used to read "Martin Mansergh - dedicated parliamentarian", rather than the usual "Vote for change" slogan that almost always appears on the election posters of candidates. Members will be familiar with John Pender, a long-standing councillor in Carlow who frequently recycled his posters. Among his posters were ones with the slogan "Johnny's got you covered", which definitely got him attention through the years.

I agree with the remarks of Senator Ward. I have often encountered people who only become aware there is an election on when they see election posters on poles. That is especially true in the case of referendums because, by their nature, referendums do not generate the same level of door-knocking as an election does. Unless it is a prominent referendum, there is not the same level of attention.

I have seen how the system operates on continental Europe. The boards system works quite well. Some of them are more than just posters; they are information for people. As Senator Ward mentioned, however, those countries have different electoral systems. Often, they do not have the same personality votes we have in Ireland. If we are going to have a debate about using a different electoral system, that will certainly be interesting, but dare I suggest the electoral commission legislation is probably broad enough in terms of all the issues it has to cover, including that of Seanad reform, which I hope we will soon come back to in this Chamber, and the question of the enactment of the seven amendments the Minister of State has committed to addressing as part of that legislation. Simply to apply here what operates in other countries is not necessarily the wisest move.

If one is an experienced and known candidate who has been a councillor or public representative for a long time, one can almost survive without posters. People will know your face and who you are. It is very difficult for new candidates. As Members are aware, it is common for public meetings to be organised for new candidates and for the name of the candidate to be clear on the poster, whereas the subject of the meeting may not be as clear. It is an opportunity for candidates to gain recognition.

There is a broader question in respect of fly-posting and postering more generally. I appreciate the focus of the Bill is very much on electoral postering, but one of the issues that frustrates me is random fly-posting which, in many cases, damages the visual amenity of the area and is not as environmentally friendly as it could be.

In considering this issue, we also need to take account of the cable ties used to attach posters to the poles. Whatever about posters being taken down - as a general rule, most candidates are pretty good about ensuring their posters come down after an election - cable ties being left on the poles is a big problem. There may need to be consideration of a system of registration or whatever. In addition to the requirements for posters to be taken down seven days after an election, we need to consider a requirement for the pole ties to be taken down.

This feeds into a broader political debate in respect of how we engage people in politics to a wider extent. It is not just about politics at election time. This is going to be about how young people are engaged in political issues and how we counter misinformation and disinformation. As I outlined, historically, posters played an important role in informing people, but if we remove one element we also have to look at the broader question of how we keep people politically engaged. I do not think it can be divorced from the broader argument. That said, I broadly support the principle of what Senator O'Reilly is trying to achieve and I think it will be a healthy debate as part of the electoral commission legislation.