They are a staple of every election in this country - election posters seem to adorn every free lamp-post in the country.

But perhaps not for much longer in the capital.

Dublin City Council is to vote on a motion, banning election posters from council property.

It would effectively ban them in the area of the country's largest local authority.

Currently, posters can be put up for a certain time period before an election - this time period is either 30 days before the poll date, or from the date the polling day order for the election has been made - whichever is shorter.

While the posters, including the plastic cable ties, must be removed within seven days of polling day.

Fine Gael councillor Paddy Smyth will be one of those supporting the motion to see the end of the posters.

"I think they're completely anachronistic, they don't tell the electorate anything about the candidates...and that's it - so I think do away with them," he told the Pat Kenny Show here on Newstalk.

"There are other ways of engaging people and I can't think of a single benefit to the general public that posters bring."

"I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a single person outside of politics - and apart from people who are trying to get into politics - who are in favour of them."

"There are other ways of engaging the public: we have social media, we have the internet."

He is proposing something different.

"What we need to do is replace them with designated precincts...where each candidate who's running would be given an equal amount of space at eye level, where they can put a poster of themselves - their lovely face, their name, what they're about, their contact details."