09/06/09 - Donation Statements furnished by Political Parties for 2008

Part 1 - Introduction

Not later than 31 March each year, political parties are required by section 24(1)(b) of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended to furnish a Donation Statement covering the previous calendar year to the Standards Commission.

During 2008 there were 14 political parties which were registered to contest Dáil or European elections. (There are now 15 registered political parties). Each of these parties was required to furnish a Donation Statement in respect of 2008 to the Standards Commission. Section 4(1) of the Act requires the Standards Commission to consider every Donation Statement furnished to it and where it considers it appropriate to do so, to furnish a report in writing to the Chairman of Dáil Éireann (Ceann Comhairle) on any matter arising.  Table 1 summarises the donations disclosed by political parties for 2008.

Table 1 Summary of donations disclosed by Political Parties for 2008

* Figure includes nine separate donations each of which are below the disclosure threshold.

The total amount of donations disclosed by political parties for 2008 was €96,523. This is the lowest figure disclosed since the commencement of the Act in 1997. Donations disclosed by Sinn Féin (€30,000) and the Green Party (€46,552) were from their elected members. The donation disclosed by the Socialist Party was from Mr Joe Higgins MEP. Donations disclosed by the Christian Solidarity Party were significantly below the disclosure threshold of €5,078.95. Only Fianna Fáil disclosed donations which were above the disclosure threshold and which were from outside the party. Details of the donations disclosed by political parties are contained in Appendix 1 to this report.

In its report on the disclosure of donations by political parties for 2007, the Standards Commission repeated its concerns in relation to the transparency of the funding of political parties. The Commission stated that its view was that the current provisions of the Act do not provide sufficient transparency in how political parties are funded and in particular how political parties and their candidates fund election campaigns.

GRECO Third Round Evaluation

Ireland became a member of GRECO (Council of Europe Groups of States Against Corruption) in May 1999. GRECO is responsible for monitoring observance of the Guiding Principles for the Fight against Corruption and implementation of the international legal instruments adopted in pursuit of the Programme of Action against Corruption. Article 11 of Recommendation Rec(2003)4 on Common Rules against Corruption and Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns provides that States should require political parties to keep proper books and accounts. Article 12 provides that States should require such accounts to specify all donations received by the party and to identify donations over a certain value. Article 13 provides that States should require political parties regularly, and at least annually, to make public such accounts, or as a minimum a summary of those accounts. Under the Act, however, political parties are not required to keep proper books and accounts or to make public their accounts. Neither are they required to specify all donations received by them.

The Standards Commission has stated on a number of occasions that political parties should be required to adhere to Articles 11, 12 and 13. In its report on the disclosure of donations by political parties for 2007 the Standards Commission recommended that any review of the provisions of the Act which may be undertaken as part of the proposal in the Programme for Government to establish an Electoral Commission should consider the implementation of Articles 11, 12 and 13 of Recommendation Rec(2003)4.

A key fundamental of the operation of GRECO is that States accept the requirement to be subject to evaluation in relation to the putting in place of measures to combat corruption. At its 24th Plenary meeting, GRECO decided that one of the areas to be evaluated in its third evaluation round is the transparency of party funding. The GRECO Third Evaluation Round is currently underway and a questionnaire on the transparency of party funding in Ireland has been completed. A team of evaluators is currently visiting Ireland to examine our legislation, practices and procedures. As part of this process the evaluators will meet with the Standards Commission. It is likely that Ireland's failure to adhere to Articles 11, 12 and 13 will be noted in the GRECO evaluation report.

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