December 2003 - Review of Electoral Acts

Political Donations

In relation to the statutory requirements applying to donations, the Standards Commission is not aware that the disclosure obligations attaching to individuals and political parties are a cause of difficulty. What constitutes a donation is defined in the legislation and is spelt out in detail in the guidelines published by the Standards Commission. It would appear to be a routine matter to keep an account of donations received over the disclosure thresholds and to record such receipt in an annual donation statement. The same might be said in relation to opening and maintaining a political donations account. The provisions which prohibit acceptance of foreign donations and donations over specified values are very straightforward and do not seem capable of giving rise to misunderstanding.

As things stand, the value of donations above which disclosure must be made by TDs, Senators, MEPs, candidates at Dáil, Seanad and European Parliament elections and agents at presidential elections is €634.87. The limit above which donations must not be accepted from the same donor in the same year, or by the same candidate in relation to an election, is €2,539.48.

The corresponding amounts for political parties are €5.078.95 and €6,348.69, respectively.

For the purpose of both the disclosure thresholds and the limits, all donations made by the same donor in the same year must be aggregated and treated by the recipient as a single donation. A Donation Statement is required once a year from TDs, Senators, MEPs and political parties. Unsuccessful candidates at Dáil, Seanad and European Parliament elections and agents at presidential elections must submit their Donation Statements not later than 56 days after polling day.

By way of comparison, it may be of interest to know that, in the United Kingdom, there are no upper limits on the value of donations that may be accepted by a political party or MP. However, donations can only be accepted from 'permissible donors', i.e., organisations and individuals registered in the UK. Effectively, foreign donations cannot be accepted.

Political parties are required to report details of the following donations:

• donations of more than £1,000 made to an accounting unit (e.g. a branch) of the party;
• donations of more than £5,000 made to the party headquarters;
• donations of more than £1,000 made to the party headquarters by anyone who has already made a donation in the same year;
• donations of more than £5,000 made to different sections of the party;
• any donations from impermissible or unidentifiable sources.

Parties must submit four quarterly donation returns every year within 30 days of the end of each calendar quarter (Jan-Mar, etc.).

MPs are required to report any donations of more than £1,000, or any impermissible or unidentifiable donations. These reports must be submitted within 30 days of the date on which the donation was accepted or returned. In addition, MPs are subject to separate disclosure requirements in relation to the Register of Members' Interests.

The Standards Commission considers it to be hugely important that details of donations received are required to be disclosed and that access to this material should continue to be widely available. This is vital in ensuring accountability and transparency. As well as providing information which is in the public interest, it enables informed questions to be raised about the sources of donations or, perhaps, the appropriateness of accepting specific donations. Such scrutiny, which is to be welcomed, has certainly been a feature of the process, particularly on the part of the media, in the period since the commencement of the legislation.

There are serious criminal sanctions for those who would furnish to the Standards Commission a donation statement, or other statement required under the legislation, which is knowingly false or misleading in any material respect. This, of itself, should, in most cases, act as a deterrent were such action to be contemplated. Of course, notwithstanding the penalties, there is no system which would claim to guarantee that all donations which fall to be disclosed will actually be disclosed. To a great extent there must be reliance on the integrity of the individual or political party whose obligation it is to comply with the statutory requirements. However, it can be assured that the matter would be pursued, in accordance with the terms of the legislation, if evidence of non-compliance in this or any other serious matter was obtained by, or brought to the attention of, the Standards Commission.

It is a matter for the Oireachtas to decide whether the disclosure thresholds for donations are set at the appropriate level, whether the prohibitions referred to are reasonable and whether the requirement to open and maintain a political donations account is necessary. The Standards Commission recognises the need to strike a proper balance between, on the one hand, ensuring public confidence in the integrity of the political process and, on the other, avoiding the creation of a system which is overly bureaucratic and which could act as a disincentive to those who would wish to participate.

In the interests of preserving the reputation of the current legislative regime, the Standards Commission would suggest that, in the event of it being proposed to increase the limits applying to acceptance of donations, careful attention would be given to avoiding a position where, in the estimation of the ordinary citizen, the new limits are excessive or are perceived as defeating the original intent and purpose of the legislation.

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