THE ADVERTISING Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) may start vetting serial offenders that breach its code in relation to taste and decency.

A new advertising code is due to be launched in October, and ASAI chief executive Frank Goodman confirmed last week that the authority is looking at forcing serial offenders to submit their adverts for vetting prior to any campaign launch.

A similar system currently operates in the UK, where serial offenders must submit for vetting for a period of two years any poster adverts coming to market.

They can also be disqualified from industry awards.

Goodman stressed that introducing the sanction here is merely under consideration, but said that the process has been effective in other European jurisdictions.

For the first time ever, the ASAI last year publicly sought submissions regarding the drafting of its new code and Goodman said a number of mainland European standards agencies had responded. He declined to classify any companies that could already be considered serial offenders, and said that the majority of advertisers and their clients adhere strictly to the existing code.

Some of the recent highprofile complaints were generated by campaigns such as that for bookmaker Paddy Power, which ran an outdoor advert using a modified scene of Leonardo Da Vinci's famous 'Last Supper'. TG4 also fell foul of the code with an advert for a fashion show featuring a scantily clad teacher at a blackboard, with the slogan 'Girls Dressed by Boys'.

Late last year, the ASAI also upheld complaints over an outdoor advert for Unilever's Lynx deodorant, while it received objections to the same product's latest campaign.

Steve Shanahan, chief executive of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI), said the industry would welcome a change in the code that would introduce vetting, while pointing out almost all the agencies and their clients currently abide by it.

'DAILY MAIL' LOOKS TO CUTS IN BRITISH BASE

As the Irish Daily Mail puts in a strong show following its launch last month, its parent is looking for budget cuts at its UK operations.

Department heads have been asked to target the 'Femail' features section, photography and also its freelance budget. Some budgets could be cut by up to 20%.

The launch of the Irish edition, believed to be selling 70,000 copies a day, is likely to have focused senior executives at the Daily Mail & General Trust on expenses that could be eliminated. The company has invested heavily in the Irish edition and has also spent almost 12m to relaunch its 'You' magazine carried in the Mail on Sunday. Executives have said they do not want cutbacks to affect quality.

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TOURISM SOUGHT FROM DELHI TO DAGENHAM

Tourism Ireland has earmarked 2m for its first ever advertising campaign in India as it vies to lure an increasingly prosperous middle class. The campaign will target three main cities . . . Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. About 7,000 Indians visit Ireland each year. The advertising push will be welcomed by the hoteliers who lamented the state of Irish tourism at last week's Irish Hotel Federation conference.

Meanwhile, the agency also signed up as official partner for this weekend's St Patrick's Day events in London. Today sees a parade run through Covent Garden, with Bord Bia also present. Tourism Ireland has previously backed the event, but it is the first time it has come on board. Also signed up are Guinness, the