The preamble to the Electoral Act 1997 states that the Act is, among other things, “An Act to ... make provision for payments to political parties and candidates, to make provision for disclosure of donations for political purposes, to regulate expenditure at elections by political parties and candidates ...”. Political parties and candidates benefit from the provisions relating to funding from the Exchequer. However, the provisions aimed at ensuring transparency and openness in relation to disclosure of donations and expenditure at elections remain ineffective.
While the current system of regulation of political funding has some strong features, there are other fundamental measures which are yet to be developed in order to increase transparency and enhance control over political finances. There is a need to minimise corruption risks and to strengthen public trust in political parties and political representation.
Party Accounts
There is no requirement under the Electoral Acts for political parties to keep proper books and accounts, to specify all donations received in these accounts or to make the accounts public. It is not currently possible to know the annual income of political parties nor to have a full picture of how elections are funded. The various statements submitted to the Standards Commission by political parties show details of donations exceeding the statutory disclosure thresholds, details of expenditure of exchequer funding and details of expenditure by the party at Dáil and European elections. There is no requirement to furnish a full set of income and expenditure statements, listing of debts and assets nor additional details as to how campaigns are funded. A mandatory legal requirement to maintain proper books of account and to present and make public these accounts would be in line with Articles 11, 12 and 13 of the Council of Europe Recommendation Rec(2003)4 on Common Rules against Corruption in the Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns. The transparency of party funding would be enhanced if the relevant financial reports of political parties were to follow a common accounting format and if the information included (or a summary) were made publicly available in a timely fashion.
Donation Disclosure
Identifying the sources of income is a key aspect of the transparency of party funding. At present, donations from an individual donor in a year are capped at €6,348.69 for political parties and €2,539.48 for individual members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and of the European Parliament. Donations over €5,078.95 to political parties and €634.87 to individual members must be disclosed. Donations below the disclosure thresholds need not be disclosed. The relatively small difference between the maximum donation which can be accepted by a political party (€6,348.69) and the amount that must be disclosed (€5,078.95) may encourage parties and donors to accept/make donations which are below the threshold values. In June 2009, figures released by the Standards Commission show that political parties disclosed donations worth €96,523 for 2008 which was the lowest figure disclosed since the introduction of the disclosure requirement in 1997. Of this amount, €11,800 was disclosed by Fianna Fáil and neither Fine Gael or the Labour Party disclosed any donations. In respect of 2009, €76,617.05 was disclosed. Neither of the three main political parties disclosed any donations in 2009, even though this was an election year (European, local and bye-elections).
Furthermore, anonymous donations are only possible where the threshold of €126.97 is not exceeded but anonymous donations below €126.97 neither have to be registered nor disclosed. In theory, therefore, large donations could be split into amounts below €126.97 to avoid the registration and disclosure requirement.
Campaign Spending
Some restrictions apply to spending during election campaigns. However, election expenditure limits only apply from the date on which the election is announced, usually some three weeks before the actual election date. Campaign spending before the stipulated period is therefore not accounted for. This means that there is not a level playing field for all candidates and political parties at elections. Parties with greater access to funding can thus “front-load” campaign expenditure in the period prior to the official announcement of the relevant election.
Use of Public Funds
To ensure a level playing field between candidates, and a degree of transparency in the use of public funds for electoral purposes, the Standards Commission has recommended that any provision for such use should form part of the electoral code rather than other legislation which patently has quite a separate purpose. This recommendation was made in its report on the 2007 General Election. If the recommendation was implemented, this would involve a consequential repeal of the provisions dealing with the provision of services and facilities following a dissolution of Dáil Éireann by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission [Section 4(4A) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003 (as inserted by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2006) which was further substituted by Section 4(c) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Act 2009]. This point was also taken up in the GRECO report’s recommendation for legislation to be consolidated within the electoral code and is referred to later in this report.
Third Parties
There is some lack of transparency in relation to third parties (i.e., bodies or individuals, not connected to a political party, which campaign for political purposes). They are not required to disclose donations or expenditure. Although third parties must maintain a political donations account and furnish a bank statement and a certificate of monetary donations to the Standards Commission, these documents are not open to public inspection. The Standards Commission has in the past highlighted difficulties encountered in the supervision of the provisions of the Electoral Acts as they relate to the activities of third parties and has put forward suggestions for possible legislative improvements.
The National Integrity System Country Study
The National Integrity System Country Study, published in March 2009, by anti-corruption group Transparency International is a wide ranging analysis conducted on safeguards against corruption and the abuse of power in Ireland. The study examined the risk of corruption and abuse of power in sixteen sectors including government, politics, business, civil society and the media. It also examined the role these sectors have to play in promoting integrity in public life. The recommendations in the report include -
Ireland became a member of GRECO (Council of Europe Groups of States Against Corruption) in May 1999. GRECO is responsible for monitoring observance of the Guiding Principles for the Fight against Corruption and implementation of the international legal instruments adopted in pursuit of the Programme of Action against Corruption. GRECO decided that one of the provisions to be evaluated in the framework of the third evaluation round of GRECO is the transparency of party funding.
The GRECO Third Evaluation Round was carried out in 2009. The Evaluation Report on Ireland - Transparency of Party Funding was published on 25 January 2010 and is available on the web site - www.coe.int/greco.
Its recommendations include -
The Standards Commission welcomes these recommendations.
Donations disclosed by TDs, Senators and MEPs
A person who was a TD, Senator or MEP during 2009 was required to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission by 31 January 2010. Donations (see definition in Appendix 3) received during 2009 which exceeded a value of €634.87 were required to be disclosed. Donations from the same person in the same year must be aggregated for the purposes of observing the disclosure threshold and the maximum acceptance limit (€2,539.48).
242 Donation Statements were received for 2009. This total comprised -
Donations totalling €182,438 were disclosed. Donations disclosed included money, property, goods and services. A refund of €2,500 was made to a donor by Mr. Proinsias de Rossa MEP as the donation received exceeded the maximum prescribed limit.
Details of the donations disclosed in respect of 2009 are available in a report to the Ceann Comhairle which was published on 25 March 2010. The report is also available on the Standards Commission website.
Donations disclosed by individual donors
Section 24(1A) of the 1997 Act provides that an individual must furnish a Donation Statement/Statutory Declaration to the Standards Commission, if he/she, in a particular year, makes donations exceeding €5,078.95 in aggregate value to two or more persons who were members of the same political party when the donations were made, or to a political party, and to one or more of its members. The Donation Statement/Statutory Declaration, must give details of the donations and the persons to whom they were made and must be furnished by 31 January of the following year.
Donation Statements were received from Mr Michael Madden, Ballyvaughan, Portroe, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary on 28 January 2010 and from Mr Declan Kelly, Castletown, Portroe, Nenagh, Co Tipperary on 2 February 2010.
Mr Madden’s Donation Statement disclosed 3 separate donations totalling €5,800 which were made to the Labour Party and its members during 2009. Mr Kelly’s Donation Statement disclosed 3 separate donations totalling €6,260 which were made to the Labour Party and its members during 2009.
Donations disclosed by political parties
15 political parties were registered in the Register of Political Parties during 2009 to contest a Dáil or European election. Each of these parties was required to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission by 31 March 2010. Donations received during 2009 which exceeded an aggregate value of €5,078.95 were required to be disclosed. The maximum value of donations which a political party can accept from the same person in the same calendar year is €6,348.69. Donations received from the same donor in the same calendar year must be aggregated for the purposes of observing the disclosure and maximum acceptance limits. The total value of donations disclosed by parties during 2009 was €76,617.05 the lowest amount disclosed since the introduction of the disclosure requirement 13 years ago. Neither of the three main political parties disclosed any donations in 2009, even though this was an election year (European, local and bye-elections).Details of the donations disclosed by political parties in respect of 2009 are available in a report which the Standards Commission furnished to the Ceann Comhairle on 18 May 2010. The report is also available on the Standards Commission website.
Two reports, published by the Standards Commission on 23 December 2009, show that candidates at the European Parliament elections disclosed total election spending of almost €4M (€3,991,629) and candidates in the two Dáil bye-elections, Dublin Central and Dublin South, disclosed spending of €259,760. Unsuccessful candidates at the European elections disclosed donations of €86,432 and unsuccessful Dáil bye-election candidates disclosed donations of €16,571. The successful candidates at the elections, who were not required to furnish their donation statements to the Standards Commission until 31 January 2010, disclosed donations of €64,379.67 (European) and €3,539.48 (Maureen O’Sullivan in the bye-election; George Lee did not disclose any donations). The reports are available on the Standards Commission’s website.
Four European Parliament election candidates - Mr Raymond O’Malley (East), Mr Jim Tallon (East), Mr John Francis Higgins (North West) and Mr Thomas King (North West) - failed to return donation statements by the statutory deadline of 31 July 2009. Two European Parliament election candidates - Mr John Francis Higgins and Mr Jim Tallon - failed to return election expenses statements. Following the issuing of a number of reminders, these individuals were warned by the Standards Commission that it would consider referring their cases to the DPP if their returns were not received by 4 January 2010. Subsequently, Mr John Francis Higgins returned the required documentation and the remaining three cases were referred to the Gardaí/DPP on 12 January 2010. Mr Raymond O’Malley returned the required documentation on 18 February 2010.
The Standards Commission has previously made a number of recommendations as to how the Electoral Acts might be improved. In particular it has recommended a review of the duration of the election period to avoid the “frontloading” of election expenditure. The Commission has noted that the use of public funds for electoral purposes is a major issue which requires to be re-evaluated in consideration of future changes to the electoral law. It has also suggested that the proposed establishment of an Electoral Commission, as set out in the current programme for government, affords an ideal opportunity for a complete review of the legislation.
As highlighted in previous Annual Reports, the Standards Commission continues to experience difficulties in supervising the provisions of the legislation relating to accounting units (see definition in Appendix 3).
It is an offence for the responsible person of an accounting unit to fail to furnish, by 31 March each year, a Certificate of Monetary Donations and Bank Statement to the Standards Commission. Only a small percentage of accounting units comply with their statutory requirements in this regard, as the following table shows. (The other political parties do not have accounting units.) The documentation was required to be furnished to the Standards Commission by 31 March 2009.
| Party | Number of Accounting Units | Returned on time |
| Fianna Fáil | 61 | 6 |
| Fine Gael | 46 | 18 |
| Green Party | 45 | 10 |
| Labour | 28 | 11 |
| Progressive Democrats | 27 | 4 |
| Sinn Féin | 15 | 4 |
Following many reminders to the remaining accounting units, the following accounting units, that still had not furnished the required statutory documentation, were referred to the Gardaí on 28 October 2009.
| Party | Accounting Units |
| Fine Gael | Cork South West; BallyMcElligott (Kerry North/Limerick West); Waterford |
| Green Party | Cork South Central; Wicklow |
| Progressive Democrats | Dublin North (Malahide); Meath East |
| Sinn Féin | Delaney/O’Rahilly (Wicklow); Clarke/McVerry/O’Neill Cumann (Ballybrack) |
Four accounting units furnished the relevant documents after the intervention of the Gardaí and are not being pursued further. The remaining 5 units, listed below, furnished the documentation on the dates shown - almost one year late.
| Party | Outstanding Accounting Units | Documentation furnished |
| Fine Gael | Cork South West; Waterford | 11 and 12 February 2010 |
| Green Party | Wicklow | 3 March 2010 |
| Progressive Democrats | Meath East | 19 March 2010 |
| Sinn Féin | Delaney/O’Rahilly (Wicklow) | 5 March 2010 |
It is a cause of concern to the Standards Commission that our major political parties do not seem to have much regard to an Act of the Oireachtas that sets out how donations to units of their parties are reported to the Standards Commission. It is also a concern that, as well as the efforts of the secretariat of the Standards Commission, scarce Garda resources have had to be called upon to ensure that routine documentation is returned to the Standards Commission. The Standards Commission intends referring non-compliant accounting units to the Gardaí at an earlier stage in future and regrets that this may result in even greater Garda resources being deployed to ensure compliance by the political parties with the legislation.
On receipt of a donation exceeding €126.97 in value, a third party (see definition in Appendix 3) must register with the Standards Commission and is subject to the same rules about acceptance of donations as political parties.
A third party must, by 31 March each year, furnish the Standards Commission with -
One of the main differences between a third party and a political party, insofar as donations are concerned, is that a third party is not obliged to submit a Donation Statement/Statutory Declaration, whereas a political party is obliged to submit one.
In March 2009, the Standards Commission wrote to the nine third parties that had been in existence in 2008 (Pro Life Campaign; Immigration Control Platform; PANA and Campaign Against EU Constitution; CÓIR; Democratic Alliance; Irish Alliance for Europe; The National Platform; Libertas and Tipperary Against The Lisbon Treaty) seeking a Certificate of Monetary Donations/Statutory Declaration and a bank statement in relation to their political donations accounts.
Six third parties furnished the Standards Commission with a Certificate of Monetary Donations/Statutory Declaration and bank statements. Two third parties confirmed in writing that there had not been any activity on the political donations accounts in 2008.
One third party, The Irish Alliance for Europe, was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on 28 May 2009 for failure to furnish a Certificate of Monetary Donations/Statutory Declaration by 31 March 2009. Mr Brendan Kiely was the “responsible person” (i.e., the person responsible for the organisation, management or financial affairs of that third party). Following referral to the DPP, Mr Kiely furnished a Certificate of Monetary Donations/Statutory Declaration and bank statements to the Standards Commission on 31 August 2009. The Standards Commission subsequently wrote to the DPP advising that the documentation had been received. The Garda Síochána confirmed in a letter dated 4 March 2010 that the DPP directed that there should be no prosecution in this case.
35 new Third Parties registered for the second referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon which was held on 2 October 2009. The statutory returns from these Third Parties were due to be furnished to the Standards Commission by 31 March 2010.
The Electoral Acts and the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2001 (Party Leaders’ Allowance Act) provide for the Exchequer funding of qualified political parties. In 2009, total funding of €13,603,262.56 was paid to qualified political parties under the Electoral Acts and the Party Leaders’ Allowance Act. Reports on the funding received by parties under both pieces of legislation are available on the Standards Commission’s website.