Fine Gael denies buying Facebook 'likes' to boost online Budget Q&A

FINE GAEL has denied purchasing thousands of 'likes' for one of its Facebook posts after social media users showed little interest in an offer from Junior Minister Simon Harris to answer their questions on Budget 2015.

When the Wicklow TD posted from his party's official Facebook account on Wednesday to advertise his "budget chat" only a few dozen users seemed to have any interest in taking up his offer.

Then, suddenly, thousands of 'likes' from social media users began to flood in.

Curiously, almost all of these 'likes' came from users on the other side of the planet in Asia from places such as Bangladesh and Cambodia.

Dublin independent magazine Rabble was one of the first to spot the anomaly, writing:

"Can't buy love? Fine Gael suddenly have 2,000 overseas fans for Simon Harris' budget chat!"

Likes for particular posts or pages can be purchased from "click farms" with prices as low as €15 per thousand 'likes'.

According to a report from the Guardian, low-paid workers punching the keys at click farms in Bangladesh might be on a three-shift system, and be paid as little as $120 a year.

Reacting to criticism on Twitter, Fine Gael denied they had purchased any 'likes' describing the allegations as "categorically untrue" and claiming it was an "entirely organic post".

This isn't the first case of politicians in Ireland accused of using click farms. 

During the local elections in May, an Independent candidate in Ballymun, Dublin, received over 2,000 new likes in one day on his Facebook campaign. The support came from Turkey and it was claimed the "likes" were purchased from a click farm.