December 2006 - Guidelines for Political Parties on donations and prohibited donations

5. Prohibited Donations

a) Donations in excess of the maximum prescribed limit

The maximum value of donation(s) which a political party may accept from the same donor in the same calendar year, either directly or through an intermediary, is €6,348.69. Where a person makes more than one donation to a political party in a particular year the values of the donations must be aggregated for the purpose of observing the maximum limit. Part 6 below sets out the steps which the appropriate officer of a political party must take in order to comply with the requirement to aggregate donations.

It should be noted that the onus is on a person accepting a donation to check with the donor and/or with the party's appropriate officer that acceptance of the donation will not bring the total amount of donations received by the party from the donor above the maximum prescribed limit. If the donation being offered is likely to bring the aggregate value of donations received by the party from the same donor over the limit of €6,348.69, the donation, or that part of a monetary donation which would cause the limit to be exceeded, must be refused.

If a party receives a donation with a value in excess of the limit:

• the donation must, within fourteen days of receipt, be returned by the party to the donor or, if it is a monetary donation, the part of it exceeding the limit must be returned to the donor. A written record of the return must be kept for the purpose of it being furnished to the Standards Commission, if required; or
• the party must, within fourteen days of receipt, notify the Standards Commission of receipt of the donation and remit the donation or the value thereof to the Standards Commission. In the case of a monetary donation, the part of it exceeding the limit must be remitted.

b) Foreign donations

A political party or any of its accounting units may not accept a donation, of any value, from an individual (other than an Irish citizen) who resides outside of the island of Ireland. Neither must a donation, of any value, be accepted from a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons which does not keep an office in the island of Ireland from which at least one of its principal activities is directed.

Again the onus is on the person accepting the donation to make whatever enquiries are necessary and to obtain any corroborating evidence that may be required in order to be satisfied that the party is not precluded from accepting a donation from the person concerned. The Standards Commission may require evidence that a political party is permitted to accept a donation from a particular donor.

Notwithstanding the above, where such a prohibited foreign donation is received,

• the recipient should, within 14 days, return the donation to the donor and keep a written record of the return for the purpose of its being furnished to the Standards Commission, if required, or
• the recipient should, within 14 days, notify the Standards Commission and remit the donation, or the value thereof, to the Standards Commission.

c) Anonymous donations

A political party may not accept an anonymous donation exceeding €126.97 in value. A donation is anonymous if the name and address of the donor is not known to the political party. If such a donation is received, the appropriate officer of the party must notify the Standards Commission in writing within 14 days of receipt of the donation and remit the donation, or its value, to the Standards Commission. The Standards Commission must lay a copy of each such notification received before both Houses of the Oireachtas and must dispose of the donation as directed by the Minister for Finance.

d) Donations from donors who themselves are required to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission

If, in the same calendar year, a donor makes donations, exceeding an aggregate value of £5,078.95,

• to two or more persons who were members of the same political party at the time the donations were made, or
• to one or more persons and to the political party of which such person or persons were members at the time the donations were made,

the donor is required to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission by 31 January in the following year.

The requirement for a donor to furnish a Donation Statement does not apply in the case of donations made by a company, trade union, society or building society (referred to in section 26 of the Act) or to donations, other than money, made by a political party to its members (whether to individuals or to any part of the party). The fact that a donation of money made by a political party to a member or any part of the party is covered by this requirement, means that the appropriate officer should have procedures in place to ensure that donations of money from the party to its members or branches are notified to party headquarters. If the aggregate value of such donations exceeds €5,078.95, the appropriate officer would be required, as a donor, under section 24(1A) of the Act, to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission.

If a person, including any officer, member or agent of a political party or of any branch or subsidiary organisation thereof, to whom a donation is offered by a donor who is covered by this provision of the legislation, knows, or has reason to believe, that the donor does not intend to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission, the person is prohibited from accepting a donation from that donor.

If, notwithstanding this prohibition, such a donation is received, the recipient must, within 14 days of receipt, notify the Standards Commission in writing, to include the name and address of the donor, and remit the donation or its value to the Standards Commission. The Standards Commission must lay a copy of each such notification before both Houses of the Oireachtas and dispose of the donation as directed by the Minister for Finance.

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