Combined Section 15/16 Manual of the Standards Commission

3.2 Functions of the Standards Commission under the Electoral Acts and administrative actions taken by it in the performance of those functions - Sections I - M

I. Practice and procedure in relation to reimbursement of candidate's election expenses:

Candidates who qualify for a reimbursement of their election expenses must apply for the reimbursement to the Standards Commission. The Standards Commission produces a form this purpose. (A sample Application for Reimbursement of Election Expenses form can be found at Appendix 11 of this manual).

Reimbursement of election expenses are made by the Department of Finance. Before a payment may be made the Standards Commission must:

1. certify to the Minister for Finance that an Election Expenses Statement has been received from the candidate's election agent;
2. certify to the Minister that the election agent's Election Expenses Statement has been completed in accordance with the Standards Commission's guidelines and the relevant provisions of the legislation; and
3. furnish to the Minister details of the actual expenses incurred by the candidate's election agent and by the national agent of the candidate's political party.

When the Standards Commission is satisfied that all relevant documentation in connection with a person's candidacy at an election has been received (i.e. Donation Statement, Certificate of Monetary Donations, Election Agent's Expenses Statement, National Agent's Election Expenses Statement), it will issue a form for Application for Reimbursement of Election Expenses to the candidate.

There is no statutory deadline for the return of reimbursement applications to the Standards Commission. On receipt of a completed application form the Standards Commission will certify to the Minister for Finance that a reimbursement of election expenses to the candidate is in order, and will furnish the Minister with the details of the expenses incurred on the candidate's behalf. Payments of reimbursements of election expenses are made directly by the Department of Finance to the bank account of the candidate.

Applications for Reimbursement of Election Expenses are not statutory returns and are used for administrative purposes only. They are not required, therefore, to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and are not made available for public display. Details of the reimbursements made to qualified candidates are contained in a report on the election which the Standards Commission furnishes to the Ceann Comhairle. This report is laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas by the Ceann Comhairle and is published on the website of the Standards Commission.

Reimbursement applications and related correspondence are retained on individual candidate physical and electronic files.

J. Practice and procedure in relation to Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding

Each year the Department of Finance notifies the Standards Commission of the amount of Exchequer funding which was paid to each qualified political party in respect of the preceding year. At the beginning of March each year the Standards Commission writes to the appropriate officer of each qualified political party enclosing a Statement of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding form (a sample form can be found at Appendix 12 of this manual).

The Electoral Acts do not provide a statutory deadline by which Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding must be provided. There is no offence for failure to furnish a Statement of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding. Payment of Exchequer Funding, however, may not be made to a qualified political party after 30 April in any year unless and until the party's Donation Statement and Statement of Expenditure of Exchequer funding have been received in respect of the previous calendar year and the Standards Commission has notified the Minister for Finance accordingly. The Standards Commission is required to inform the Minister for Finance by 01 May each year whether a Donation Statement and a Statement of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding has been received from each qualified political party. It is also required to furnish the Minister for Finance with a copy of each Statement of Exchequer Funding received. It is required to certify to the Minister that the statements have been completed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the legislation and any guidelines issued by the Standards Commission.

In order to allow the Standards Commission sufficient time to examine the Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding and to notify the Minister for Finance of their receipt by 01 May, appropriate officers are requested to return the completed Statement of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding by 31 March each year (i.e. the statutory deadline for receipt of the party's Donation Statement).

If a Statement of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding has not been received by 31 March, the Standards Commission writes to the appropriate officer notifying him / her of the provisions of the Acts regarding the suspension of payment of Exchequer funding.

The Standards Commission acknowledges receipt of each Statement of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding and accompanying Auditor's report. Each statement is checked to ensure that it has been correctly completed and that the funding has been spent in accordance with the legislation.

Where an error is discovered, the Statement is returned and the appropriate officer afforded an opportunity to amend the statement. If it considers it appropriate to do so, the Standards Commission may also request further clarification in relation to details provided in the Statement. Where a statement has been amended or clarification provided, the Standards Commission may request that the party's auditors verify the amendments / clarification.

When finalised the Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Standards Commission also produces a report to the Ceann Comhairle each year on the receipt of Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding from qualified parties. This report also contains details of donations disclosed by political parties in the preceding year. The Ceann Comhairle is required to lay the report before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The report contains details of the funding received by qualified parties and the matters on which it was spent. Publication of the report is normally accompanied by a press release from the Standards Commission. Both the report and the press release are published on the website of the Standards Commission. The Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding are retained for public inspection at the offices of the Standards Commission for a period of three years.

The Standards Commission also notifies the Minister for Finance of the receipt of the Donation Statements and Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer funding from qualified political parties. The Standards Commission provides a copy of each Statement to the Minister for Finance and certifies that the Statements have been correctly completed in accordance with the legislation and the Standards Commission's guidelines. As the Standards Commission's report is not usually published until the end of May, the Standards Commission writes separately to the Department of Finance in early May advising of the Donation Statements and Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding which have been received, and whether any such statements remain outstanding at that point. Where a Donation Statement or a Statement of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding has not been received by 30 April and the Standards Commission has notified the Department of Finance of this fact, it will inform the Department of Finance if and when the relevant statement is received.

Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding and correspondence with appropriate officers relating to same are retained on individual physical files. The Standards Commission also maintains physical files relating to general correspondence regarding Exchequer funding of qualified political parties and Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding. Correspondence relating to Exchequer funding of qualified political parties and Statements of Expenditure of Exchequer Funding is also maintained on an electronic database.

K. Practice and procedure in relation to the publication of guidelines and the provision of advice under the Electoral Acts

Sections 4(6)(a) and (b) of the Electoral Acts require the Standards Commission to publish guidelines and provide advice to persons to whom the provisions of Parts III, IV, V or VI of the Electoral Acts apply, regarding the steps to be taken by such persons to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the legislation.

The provisions in question relate to:

• Part III: Exchequer funding of qualified political parties
• Part IV: The acceptance and disclosure of donations and the opening of political donations accounts;
• Part V: The limitation, disclosure and reimbursement of election expenses at Dáil and European elections; and
• Part VI: The acceptance and disclosure of donations, the opening of political donations accounts and the limitation, disclosure and reimbursement of election expenses at presidential elections.

.Persons to whom guidelines are published and advice given include:

• appropriate officers and national agents of political parties
• Members and MEPs
• candidates at Dáil, Seanad, European and presidential elections
• election agents of candidates at Dáil, European and presidential elections
• responsible persons of third parties and accounting units of political parties.

Guidelines and advice given by the Standards Commission under the Electoral Acts are statutorily binding i.e. a person must comply with the guidelines / advice given unless by doing so he / she would be contravening another provision of the legislation.

All guidelines published by the Standards Commission under the Acts are already in the public domain and may be accessed without recourse to FOI.

The Standards Commission maintains an electronic client database on which details of enquiries made and advice given are recorded. Routine enquiries (i.e. regarding disclosure dates, disclosure limits, expenditure limits) are normally received by telephone or by email and are answered directly by the Standards Commission Secretariat. If received by telephone, such enquiries are not normally recorded. All replies to e-mail enquiries are saved on both an e-mail and electronic database, and on the relevant physical file.

In accordance with section 4(10) of the Electoral Acts, certain members of the staff of the Standards Commission Secretariat are delegated to provide advice under the Electoral Acts. Where a telephone enquiry is considered to be in the nature of a request for advice within the meaning of the Electoral Acts, the request will be referred to a member of staff who has been delegated to provide such advice. The request and advice given are recorded on the client's physical file and on an electronic database. Where he / she considers it appropriate to do so, a member of the Secretariat may require a person making a telephone enquiry to put submit their request for advice in writing or by e-mail.

Where a specific request for advice under the Electoral Acts is received, the Standards Commission has 21 days to furnish the advice or to notify the person of its decision to decline to furnish advice on the matter. Where a request for advice is made, the provisions of the Electoral Acts relating to the person who made the request shall not apply to that person until such time as the Standards Commission has furnished the advice or notified the person of its decision to decline to furnish advice on the matter. Written or e-mailed requests for advice are always replied to in writing within 21 days. The request and the advice provided are filed on the client's relevant physical file and on an electronic database.

L. Practice and procedure in relation to the disclosure of information contained in statutory documentation received under the Electoral Acts

The Electoral Acts provide that the Standards Commission shall furnish reports to the Chairman of Dáil Éireann, where it considers it appropriate to do so, on any matters relating to statutory returns received by it under the Electoral Acts. Reports furnished by the Standards Commission to the Ceann Comhairle are subsequently laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The Standards Commission is also required to lay copies of statutory documentation received by it before the Houses of the Oireachtas and to make such documentation available for public inspection. The exceptions in this regard are Certificates of Monetary Donations and statements from financial institutions regarding Political Donations Accounts which may not be disclosed save in specific circumstances provided for in the Electoral Acts.

It is the Standards Commission's practice to endeavour to furnish a report to the Chairman of Dáil Éireann and to lay the copies of statutory documentation received by it before the Houses of the Oireachtas within 6 - 8 weeks of the relevant statutory deadline.

The Standards Commission normally prepares a press release to accompany the furnishing of a report to the Chairman of Dáil Éireann. The press release is circulated to the media and other interested parties. The press release and report are also published on the website of the Standards Commission (www.sipo.gov.ie).

Once the statutory documentation has been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas it is made available to the public for inspection and copying at the offices of the Standards Commission. Much of the information contained in the statutory documentation furnished to the Standards Commission is published in summary format on the website of the Standards Commission.

M. Practice and procedure in relation to inquiries concerning possible contraventions of the Electoral Acts:

Under section 4 of the Standards in Public Office Act, 2001 (2001 Act), a person may make a complaint where he / she considers that a specified person may have contravened the provisions of the Electoral Act, 1997 (see glossary at Part 2 for a definition of a specified person). A complaint made under section 4 of the 2001 Act will be investigated in accordance with the provisions of the Ethics Acts.

Aside from the above complaints procedure, there is no formal complaints procedure set out in the Electoral Acts. A person who considers, however, that the Electoral Acts may have been contravened may make a complaint in writing to the Standards Commission. The person will be required to provide details of the complaint and the alleged contravention.

The Standards Commission is precluded from acting on a complaint unless the identity of the person making the complaint is disclosed to it. The Standards Commission may, however, if it considers it appropriate to do so, use information contained in an anonymous complaint as the basis for initiating an enquiry into a possible contravention of the Electoral Acts.

The Standards Commission is empowered under the Electoral Acts to make such inquiries as it considers appropriate and to require any person to furnish any information, document or thing in the possession or procurement of the person which the Standards Commission may require for the purpose of its duties under the Electoral Acts.

Where the Standards Commission is of the opinion that there may have been a contravention of the Electoral Acts it will notify the person concerned and give the person 14 days to provide any comments he / she may have on the matter. If, having considered such comments, the Standards Commission is still of the opinion that the person may have contravened the Electoral Acts it is required to furnish a written report on the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Standards Commission has been advised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, however to forward any such reports directly to An Gardaí.

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