asked the Minister for the Environment if he will consider legislation governing the publication of opinion polls in the period before elections.

I have no proposals to control the publication of opinion polls in periods before elections.

Would the Minister agree that there may be some evidence to suggest that the publication of opinion polls in the run-up to elections can have some effect on the outcome of such elections? Would he not consider the introduction of some regulations, such as those that operate in continental countries, to regulate the publication of opinion polls in the period between the Dáil being dissolved and the holding of a general election or any other election?

There is no evidence available regarding the effect of public opinion polls on how the electorate vote in elections. If the Deputy has some information on that, I should like to have it. If there is some professional advice available in that regard, I am not aware of it. I do know that in France it is forbidden to publish opinion polls for one week before the first ballot of their double ballot majority electoral system. But I believe that any proposals to control the publication of opinion polls could be regarded as an interference with the freedom of the press.

While recognising what the Minister says — perhaps he has no evidence to suggest that the electorate are affected — nevertheless it should be recognised that it has now reached the stage in this country that every political party is affected by every opinion poll published and it would appear that the country seems to be run by opinion polls. But, leaving that aside, would the Minister not agree that their publication may influence the electorate on how they cast their votes? Since elections should reflect the people's opinions at any given time, being seen to be fully democratic, would the Minister not consider the introduction of some regulation or at least have the matter discussed within his Department?

While recognising the worth of opinion polls I would not envisage a situation in which they could not be resorted to by political parties during election periods because there is evidence to suggest, particularly in the course of the last couple of elections, that their publication could have some influence.

Perhaps the Deputy would now conclude his speech.

Perhaps the Government would consider the introduction of such regulations because we have now reached the stage at which we are being governed by opinion polls, that successive Governments appear to be afraid of what will be published next. What we need is a Government to run the country rather than worry about opinion polls.

I can say it is clear that obviously a large number of factors influence the way people vote at election times and that it would be difficult to isolate the effect of such opinion polls on that basis. I would be very reluctant to accept the opinion of the Deputy that we should perhaps introduce some legislation banning the publication of opinion polls for some time before elections.