Standards in Public Office Commission

Appendix 3: Glossary of terms

Accounting unit

an “accounting unit” of a political party is a branch or other subsidiary organisation of the party which, in any particular year, receives a donation the value of which exceeds €126.97. The appropriate officer of a political party is required to provide the Standards Commission with the name and address of each accounting unit of the party, including the name of its “responsible person”. (The responsible person is the treasurer or any other person responsible for dealing with donations to the unit.) (Section 22(2)(aa) of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended)

Company

“means any body corporate” (Section 2(1) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995)

Connected person

“Any question whether a person is connected with another shall be determined in accordance with the following provisions of this paragraph (any provision that one person is connected with another person being taken to mean also that that other person is connected with the first-mentioned person) -

1. a person is connected with an individual if that person is a relative of the individual,
2. a person, in his or her capacity as a trustee of a trust, is connected with an individual who or any of whose children or as respects whom any body corporate which he or she controls is a beneficiary of the trust,
3. a person is connected with any person with whom he or she is in partnership,
4. a company is connected with another person if that person has control of it or if that person and persons connected with that person together have control of it,
5. any two or more persons acting together to secure or exercise control of a company shall be treated in relation to that company as connected with one another and with any person acting on the directions of any of them to secure or exercise control of the company”. (Section 2(2)(a) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995)

Control

“has the meaning assigned to it by Section 157 of the Corporation Tax Act 1976, as amended, and any cognate words shall be construed accordingly” (section 1, Ethics in Public Office Act 1995). Section 157 of the Corporation Tax Act 1976, as amended, in turn refers to section 102 of that Act, which has subsequently been re-enacted in section 432 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which provides -

“a person shall be taken to have control of a company if he exercises, or is able to exercise or is entitled to acquire control, whether direct or indirect, over the company’s affairs, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the preceding words, if he possesses or is entitled to acquire-

1. the greater part of the share capital or issued share capital of the company or of the voting power in the company; or
2. such part of the issued share capital of the company as would, if the whole of the income of the company were in fact distributed among the participators (without regard to any rights which he or any other person has as a loan creditor), entitle him to receive the greater part of the amount so distributed; or
3. such rights as would, in the event of the winding up of the company or in any other circumstances, entitle him to receive the greater part of the assets of the company which would then be available for distribution among the participators. (Section 2(2)(b) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995)

Designated directorship

“in relation to a public body, means a prescribed directorship of that body” (Section 2(1) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995)

Designated position

“in relation to a public body, means a prescribed position of employment in that body” (Section 2(1) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995)

Director

“means a director within the meaning of the Companies Acts 1963 to 1990, but includes, in the case of a public body that is not a company (within the meaning of the Companies Act 1963) and is specified in subparagraph (8), (9), (10), (11) or (12), or stands prescribed for the purposes of subparagraph (13), of paragraph 1 of the First Schedule, a person who is a member of it or a member of any board or other body that controls, manages or administers it, and any cognate words shall be construed accordingly”. (Section 2(1) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995)

Donation

a donation means “any contribution given for political purposes by any person, whether or not a member of a political party.....” [A “person” means an individual, a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons. An unincorporated body of persons includes a political party and any of its subsidiary organisations.] A donation can include -

1. a donation of money (including money given by a political party to a TD, Senator or MEP or a candidate at an election);
2. a donation of property or goods;
3. the free use of property or goods;
4. a free supply of services;
5. the difference between the commercial price and the (lower) price charged for property, goods or services;
6. a donation received by way of a contribution made to the net profit from a fund-raising event organised for the benefit of a candidate. (Section 22(2)(a) of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended)

Material interest

“A person or a connected person has a material interest in a matter if the consequence or effect -

1. of the performance by the person of a function of his or her office, directorship, designated position, or position as a special adviser, as the case may be, or
2. of any decision made in relation to, or in the course or as a result of the performance of such a function by the person,

concerning that matter may be to confer on, or withhold from, the person, or the connected person, a significant benefit without also conferring it on, or withholding it from, persons in general or a class of persons which is of significant size having regard to all the circumstances and of which the person or the connected person is a member”. (Section 2(3) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995)
(NB. this definition applies other than in relation to a material interest of a member of the Oireachtas in Oireachtas proceedings where the provisions of section 7(3) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 apply.)

Office Holder

A Minister of the Government; a Minister of State; the Attorney General; the Ceann Comhairle; the Leas Ceann Comhairle; the Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann and the Leas Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann (Section 2(1) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995)

Specified act

an act or an omission that is, or the circumstances of which are, such as to be inconsistent with the proper performance by the specified person of the functions of the office or position by reference to which he or she is such a person or with the maintenance of confidence in such performance by the general public, and the matter is one of significant public importance. (Section 4(1)(a) of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001)

Specified person

an office holder or the holder of the office of Attorney General who is not a member of the Oireachtas; a special adviser; a designated director or a designated employee of a public body; a director or an employee of a public body. (Section 4(6)(a) of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001)

Third party

a “third party” is defined as any person, other than a political party or a candidate at an election, who accepts, in a particular year, a donation, the value of which exceeds €126.97. (A contribution given in support of a campaign at a referendum is regarded as a contribution for political purposes.) (Section 22(2)(aa) of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended)