Political parties should fundraise to repay cost of failed referendum, says Senator Mullen

The political parties who backed the referendum should be forced to fundraise and pay back the taxpayer close to €20million for staging it, according to Senator Rónán Mullen. 

Speaking on Claire Byrne Live on RTÉ on Monday morning, he said the political parties should be held accountable. 

"The three Government parties should be pressured to fundraise to pay back between €15 and €20 million of taxpayers' money that they squandered on a standalone referendum, on a controversial issue," he said. 

"What has happened here is a scandal," he said. 

"You can't hijack the apparatus and the resources of the State to push through an ideological agenda, which is what happened here," he said. 

"The entire political class has failed people," he said. 

Dr Tom Hickey, associate professor at DCU School of Law told the show he was surprised at the scale of the loss. 

"On the family proposal, the idea seemed to take hold from very early on that there was insufficient clarity in the wording," he said. 

He said the focus was very much on the term "durable relationships".

"The No campaigners certainly seemed to win that debate, the argument being that it was imprecise. It was unclear what concrete legal implications it will have, down the line," Prof Hickey said.

"A lot of people were unsure and lacked confidence in the legal meaning, and voted No as a result," he added.