I do not know if the Taoiseach's party or other parties have had a similar experience to my party in regard to online advertising for the European Parliament and local election campaigns. It has been chaotic. The authorisation, approval and oversight process is far from satisfactory.

I looked at www.facebook.com/ads/library, where one is supposed to be able to get a sense of how much different parties are spending. The Taoiseach's party has apparently spent under €10,000 so far in this campaign but to be honest, it is as clear as mud as to what is happening with online advertising. We should not rely on Facebook to regulate our online advertising, which is central to our democratic institutions. How many elections will be allowed to pass before we put in place regulations for full transparency for all online advertising ourselves? When will that change? The current system is chaotic. It is not transparent and it is not democratic so it needs to change. When does the Government intend to introduce such regulations or could we, as a House, organise that collectively?

I thank the Deputy for the question. He had a specific point around advertising and a group being led by the Department of the Taoiseach has been working with my Department, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and others to see how we might address this area as we also address offline advertising. The more important piece of work is the establishment of an electoral commission. Public consultation was conducted earlier this year and it has concluded. A report is being finalised and will come to me with recommendations on the establishment of a statutory electoral commission and the different functions and powers of that commission.

Will we have it in time for the next general election?