December 2003 - Review of Electoral Acts

Political Donations Accounts

The Standards Commission is of the view that consideration ought to be given to the provisions of the legislation which require the opening and maintaining of a political donations account and, in particular, the supporting documentation which is required to be furnished.

The Standards Commission provided preliminary observations on this matter in its report to the Ceann Comhairle in October 2002 which dealt with the disclosure of donations by unsuccessful candidates at the Dáil general election. Further observations were provided in a report to the Ceann Comhairle in January 2003. Copies of both reports were laid before the Houses and were furnished to the Minister. In summary, the Standards Commission would agree that a person accepting monetary donations should be required to open and maintain a political donations account and that the monies withdrawn from the account should be used for political purposes only. The Standards Commission would also agree that, when furnishing a donation statement, a person should confirm whether or not they were required to open a political donations account and, if so, should certify that monetary donations had, as appropriate, been lodged to that account and that withdrawals from the account were used for political purposes.

The Standards Commission would, however, question whether it is necessary that a person should, as a matter of course, be required to forward a statement from the financial institution specifying the transactions that have taken place in relation to the account during the period in respect of which the person is making the return. Given that the completion of a Certificate of Monetary Donations / Statutory Declaration form is confirmation by the person that he / she has complied with the requirements of the legislation regarding the opening and maintenance of a political donations account, the Standards Commission does not see, apart from providing further confirmation that the account has been opened, what purpose the statement from the financial institution serves. In any case where it is required, the Standards Commission has the statutory authority to obtain a copy of the relevant statement.

Some further comments relating to the specific provisions of the legislation dealing with political donations accounts are provided in Part 4 of this document.

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