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Guidelines for the general election to the 30th Dáil

Guidelines for the general election to the 30th Dáil

D. Assignment by a candidate of a portion of his/her statutory spending limit to his/her political party (if contesting the election as a party candidate)

If a candidate is contesting the election on behalf of a political party, he/she may agree, in writing, with his or her political party, the amount of his/her spending limit which is being assigned to the party for spending by the party's national agent. This could be up to 100% of the candidate's limit. There is, however, no legal obligation on a candidate to assign any amount to the party. The candidate's election agent can only spend, or authorise to be spent, the amount of the statutory limit for that candidate which remains after the assignment has been made. In other words, whatever amount is assigned to the party by a candidate is not available for spending by the candidate's election agent.

Example:

	3 seat constituency	4 seat constituency	5 seat constituency
Statutory spending limit for candidate	€30,150	€37,650	€45,200
Amount assigned by candidate to the party	€10,000	€10,000	€10,000
Amount which election agent can spend	€20,150	€27,650	€35,200

2.17 The legislation does not specify when the written assignment must be made. Similarly the legislation does not preclude a renegotiation of the agreed assignment. The Standards Commission strongly advises that, if an assignment to a political party is being made, it should be made and notified to the election agent before any expenses are incurred by either the election agent or the national agent of the candidate's political party.

2.18 The legislation requires that the agreed assignment must be made in writing between the candidate and the party. Where assignments are renegotiated a new written agreement must be made between the candidate and the party. A copy of the written agreement should be provided to the candidate's election agent as he/she will be required to furnish a copy of the written agreement to the Standards Commission with his/her Election Expenses Statement.

2.19 The combined expenditure on the candidate by the candidate's election agent (including authorised persons) must remain within the statutory spending limit for the candidate. The spending limit is outlined in paragraph 2.12.

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