Section 21(1) of the Act provides for the reimbursement of election expenses to qualified candidates at a Dáil general election. In order to qualify for a reimbursement, a candidate must either:
have been elected at the election, or
if not elected, have exceeded one quarter of the quota in the constituency at any stage of the counting of votes.
Section 3(1) of the Act provides that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government may, by order, and in line with the CPI, increase the maximum amount which may be reimbursed to qualified candidates at Dáil elections. The amount had not been increased since the introduction of the Act (15 May 1997). The Minister, having regard to changes in the CPI since 15 May 1997 made an order (Electoral Act 1997 (Limitation and Reimbursement of Election Expenses at Dáil Election) Order 2007 (S.I. No. 113 of 2007)) which increased the maximum amount which may be reimbursed from €6,348.69 to €8,700.
Candidates who qualified for a reimbursement were eligible, therefore, to receive the lesser of €8,700 or the actual amount of election expenses incurred on their behalf at the election. In calculating the amount of election expenses incurred on a candidate's behalf, account may be taken of the expenses incurred on the candidate as accounted for by the candidate's election agent and expenses incurred by the party on the candidate in the constituency, as accounted for by the party's national agent.
The Standards Commission is required under section 21(d) of the Act to certify to the Minister for Finance that a candidate is eligible for a reimbursement of his/her election expenses. The Standards Commission is also required to certify that a correctly completed Election Expenses Statement has been furnished to the Standards Commission by the candidate's election agent and, in the case of unsuccessful candidates, to certify that a correctly completed Donation Statement has been received from the candidate. The Standards Commission is also required to notify the Minister for Finance of the expenditure incurred by each candidate and of the reimbursement amount due to each candidate.
It is the practice of the Standards Commission not to issue an Application for Reimbursement of Election Expenses form to a qualified candidate until such time as all matters relating to the completion of his/her statutory returns have been finalised. In addition to the election agent's Election Expenses Statement and an unsuccessful candidate's Donation Statement this also includes the correct completion of the national agent's Election Expenses Statement (insofar as it applies to the particular candidate) and where required the furnishing by unsuccessful candidates of a correctly completed CMD and bank statement.
When the Standards Commission has received the relevant statutory documentation and is satisfied as to its correct completion, it issues a reimbursement application form to the candidate. On receipt of the completed application form, the Standards Commission certifies to the Department of Finance the amount which should be reimbursed to the candidate. The Standards Commission will not certify a reimbursement of election expenses to a candidate if statutory and supporting documentation has not been furnished.
The reimbursement is made directly to a candidate by the Department of Finance and is not regarded as a donation to the candidate. A candidate is not required by the legislation to pass on any part of the reimbursement to his/her political party although in most cases candidates of the main political parties are required by the party to pass on some or all of their reimbursement to the party.
There is an issue in relation to the reimbursement of expenses due to some non-party candidates or candidates of the smaller political parties who may not be eligible to claim the maximum amount of €8,700. Items such as meals for canvassers and candidate's petrol and telephone expenses are excluded from the definition of what constitutes election expenses (see section 3.2 - items (ii) and (vi)). The exclusion of these items from the definition of election expenses is welcomed by most candidates and election agents as a means of allowing them to remain within their spending limits. However for some non-party candidates or candidates of the smaller parties whose spending will not come close to the statutory spending limit, these items represent real costs for which they cannot be reimbursed should they qualify for a reimbursement of their election expenses. The Standards Commission suggests that where such instances arise and the candidates can provide evidence of such expenses having been incurred, the Standards Commission might be allowed to exercise some discretion and include such items in the total election expenses which may be reimbursed to these candidates.
A total of 304 candidates qualified for a reimbursement of their election expenses. 300 candidates were eligible to receive the maximum amount of €8,700 while four candidates were eligible to receive the total amount of election expenses incurred on their behalf (including expenses incurred on their behalf by the party). The total amount due to be reimbursed to qualified candidates is €2,638,013.47. At the time of publication, almost 220 reimbursement applications have been received and processed. The qualified candidates and the amounts of the reimbursements due to them are outlined in Appendix 5 to this report