The 29th Dáil was dissolved on 29 April 2007 and polling for the general election to the 30th Dáil took place on 24 May 2007. 466 candidates contested the election. This was the third Dáil general election to have taken place since the introduction of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended and the second Dáil general election to which the full provisions of the Act, relating to the disclosure and limitation of donations and the limitation, disclosure and reimbursement of election expenses, applied.
In accordance with the provisions of Part IV of the Act, unsuccessful candidates at the Dáil general election were required, within 56 days after polling day (i.e., by 19 July 2007), to furnish to the Standards Commission a Donation Statement and accompanying documentation. Details of all donations, with a value greater than €634.87, received by unsuccessful candidates in relation to the election were required to be disclosed. Successful candidates at the election are required, as members of Dáil Éireann, to furnish an annual Donation Statement and accompanying documentation to the Standards Commission by 31 January each year. The Donation Statements furnished to the Standards Commission in respect of 2007 by members of Dáil Éireann must include details of any donations received by them during 2007 in relation to the Dáil general election. These Statements must be furnished to the Standards Commission by 31 January 2008.
Part V of the Act provides that the election agent of each candidate, whether successful or unsuccessful, at a Dáil general election is required to furnish an Election Expenses Statement to the Standards Commission within 56 days after polling day. The Election Expenses Statement must include details of all expenses incurred and payments made by the election agent on behalf of the candidate at the election. An Election Expenses Statement is also required from the national agent of each political party with candidates contesting the election and from "other persons" who incurred election expenses.
Preparatory work for the Dáil general election
The Standards Commission began its preparations for the Dáil general election during 2006. Draft guidelines for the election were prepared and published on its website in September 2006. This was to allow potential candidates, their election agents, the national agents of political parties contesting the elections and other persons engaged in the election to familiarise themselves with the requirements of the Act and, if necessary, to contact the Standards Commission for advice. The final version of the guidelines was published in March 2007 and formally issued to candidates, election and national agents once the election was called. Section 11 of the Act provides that guidelines issued by the Standards Commission are legally binding.
The Standards Commission also met with the main political parties in 2006 and outlined how it intended to supervise the provisions of the Act in relation to donations and election spending at the Dáil general election. The Standards Commission provided a number of briefing sessions to political parties on the requirements of the legislation which would apply at the Dáil general election and responded to a number of requests for advice from potential participants. Once the election was called, representatives of the Standards Commission secretariat visited constituencies, meeting with candidates' election agents and providing advice and assistance regarding the requirements of the legislation. After the election period, Standards Commission officials made every effort to assist election agents with completion of the required returns.
The Commission regrets the delay in publication of the report. This delay is a direct result of the apparent inability of many candidates and agents to complete properly, relatively simple Donation Statement and Election Expenses forms.
Reporting requirements of the Standards Commission
Section 4(1) of the Act provides that the Standards Commission may, where it considers it appropriate to do so, furnish a report to the Ceann Comhairle on any matter arising in relation to Donation Statements and Election Expenses Statements furnished to it under the Act. In accordance with section 4(5) of the Act the report must be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Matters dealt with in this report include :
the disclosure of donations by unsuccessful candidates at the election;
requirements relating to prohibited donations and the limitation on acceptance by candidates of certain types of donations;
the opening and maintenance of political donations accounts by candidates;
the disclosure of expenditure on behalf of candidates and political parties;
the reimbursement of election expenses to qualified candidates;
compliance by "other persons" with regard to the incurring of election expenses; and
compliance by newspapers with regard to the provisions of section 31(10) of the Act concerning the publication of election advertisements.
The Standards Commission does not have a statutory basis on which to review the operation of the Act and to report on its findings. However, in addition to reporting on the information contained in the Donation Statements and Election Expenses Statements furnished to it, the Standards Commission also comments on issues which affected its supervision of the disclosure of donations and election spending at the Dáil general election. The Standards Commission comments in particular on some of the difficulties encountered and makes some suggestions as to how these may be overcome.
After the 2002 Dáil general election, the Standards Commission was invited by the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Martin Cullen TD to furnish its views on its experience of supervising the Act. These views were set out in a report, Standards in Public Office Commission Review of the Electoral Acts 1997 to 2002, which was sent to the Minister in December 2003. That document set out a number of recommendations both general and specific as to how the legislation might be improved including a specific recommendation that as the body with responsibility for supervising the Act, the Standards Commission should have a statutory basis on which to review its operation. The Standards Commission has repeated this recommendation and others in its last two annual reports. Regrettably, none of those recommendations were implemented with the result that the Standards Commission encountered many of the same difficulties with the legislation at the 2007 general election as it had at the 2002 general election. These difficulties are highlighted once again in this report together with appropriate recommendations.
The Standards Commission considers that the proposed establishment of an Electoral Commission, as set out in the current programme for government, affords an ideal opportunity to carry out a complete review of the legislation and trusts that this review will take account of its recommendations.