December 2003 - Review of Electoral Acts

Continued existence of third parties

The legislation provides that, not later than 31 March in every year, in relation to a political donations accounts which may have been opened several years previously, the responsible person of a third party must furnish to the Standards Commission a statement from a financial institution, together with a certificate of monetary donations. This would seem to presume that once a third party is established, it will remain in existence as a third party for all time.

In practice, third parties tend to be either standing organisations which decide to become involved in a particular campaign, or groups which are established for a definite purpose, e.g. to influence the outcome of a referendum or a general election, and do not continue in existence thereafter. (The vast majority of the third parties which have registered with the Standards Commission to date did so in relation to either the referenda on abortion or on the Nice Treaty or the Dáil general election.)

The approach taken by the Standards Commission in this matter has been to ask third parties to confirm whether or not they intend to continue in existence. If they do not, there will be no further contact made with them. However, a strict interpretation of the legislation might suggest that once a third party has registered in the first instance, even though it is no longer active for political purposes, as described in the legislation, it is still required to furnish documentation to the Standards Commission every year. This situation might be addressed and clarified.

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