Donations Disclosed by Political Parties for 2007

Part 1 - Introduction

This report concerns Donation Statements and Statutory Declarations, in respect of 2007, furnished to the Standards Commission by political parties pursuant to section 24(1)(a) of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended (referred to hereafter as "the Act").

Currently there are 14 political parties which are registered to contest Dáil or European elections and who are required to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission. Section 4(1) of the Act requires the Standards Commission to consider every statement and notification furnished to it in relation to political donations 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 below provides summary details of the donations disclosed by political parties in 2007.

Political Party	Appropriate Officer	Total value of donations €
The Communist Party of Ireland	Mr. Eugene McCartan	Nil
Fianna Fáil	Mr. Seán Dorgan	19,044
Christian Democrats (the National Party)	Mr. Daniel Desmond	Nil
Fine Gael	Mr. Tom Curran	Nil
The Green Party	Mr. Martin Nolan	29,750
The Labour Party	Mr. Michael Allen	18,648
People Before Profit Alliance	Ms. Ailbhe Smyth	Nil
Progressive Democrats	Senator Ciarán Cannon	Nil
Sinn Féin	Des Mackin	187,223
Socialist Party	Mr. Michael Murphy	11,820
Socialist Workers Party	Ms. Bríd Smith	Nil
South Kerry Independent Alliance	Mr. Donie Doody	Nil
The Workers Party	Mr. John Lowry	Nil
Total		266,485

As can be seen the total amount of donations disclosed by political parties for 2007, a year in which Dáil and Seanad general elections were held, was €266,485. Closer analysis of the donations disclosed shows that of this figure, donations totalling €222,793 were donations to political parties from their elected representatives. Donations which were disclosed by Sinn Féin (€187,223) and the Green Party (€29,750) were all from their elected representatives. Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party each disclosed three donations totalling €19,044 and €18,648 respectively. Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats furnished "nil" Donation Statements. Of the remaining eight smaller political parties, only the Socialist Party disclosed a donation. Details of donations disclosed by political parties are contained in Appendix 1 to this report.

The Standards Commission's report on the disclosure of donations by political parties for 2006 showed that donations totalling €140,753.35 were disclosed by political parties (of which €123,653 were donations from elected representatives of the parties). In its report the Standards Commission suggested a review of the transparency of the funding of political parties. Table 2 below gives details of the total donations disclosed by the six main political parties and their elected representatives for 2007. It also shows the total donations disclosed by unsuccessful candidates of these parties at the Dáil general election and compares the total amount of donations disclosed against election expenditure which was disclosed by the parties and their candidates at the Dáil general election.

Table 2 Comparison of donations disclosed by the six main political parties, their elected representatives and unsuccessful Dáil candidates against expenditure incurred by the party and its candidates at the Dáil general election.

Party	Donations disclosed by the Party	Donations disclosed by the Party's TDs, Senators and MEPs*	Donations disclosed by unsuccessful candidates of the party at the Dáil general election	Total Donations disclosed	Election expenses incurred by the party and its candidates at the Dáil general election**	Difference between expenses incurred and donations disclosed	Donations disclosed as a % of election expenses
Fianna Fáil	19,044	490,871	151,608	661,523	3,650,241	2,988,718	18.1%
Fine Gael	Nil	107,912	83,183	191,095	2,809,474	2,618,379	6.8%
The Labour Party	18,648	43,960	89,476	152,084	1,477,321	1,325,237	10.3%
Progressive Democrats	Nil	7,800	8,079	15,879	1,012,707	996,828	1.6%
Sinn Féin	187,223	8,650	33,800	229,673	685,096	455,423	33.5%
The Green Party	29,750	14,200	34,118	78,068	553,859	475,791	14.1%
Total	254,665	673,393	400,264	1,328,322	10,188,698	8,860,376	13%

* This figure in this column excludes donations which were returned by representatives (for being in excess of the maximum prescribed limit) and donations which were already disclosed by representatives who had been unsuccessful candidates at the Dáil general election.

** The figure is this column relates only to expenditure on goods, property or services which were used during the election period only (i.e. from 29 April 2007 to 24 May 2007). It does not include expenditure on goods, property or services which were used prior to 29 April 2007.

It is evident from the above figures that in terms of transparency there is a large gap between the amount of disclosable donations and reported expenditure. In view of the fact that the reported expenditure relates to the 3 week election period only and does not include pre-election spending, the gap between donations disclosed and election expenditure is even wider. The difference is not explained by the fact that political parties receive public funds as this funding may not be used for electoral purposes. It is not transparent, therefore, how the parties have financed their election campaigns.

The mix of public and private of funding of political parties which is provided for in this jurisdiction is accompanied by rules and reporting mechanisms to ensure that public money is allocated on an equitable basis and is utilised for the purposes intended and that donations and election spending are regulated. This approach is generally in keeping with Recommendation (Rec (2003)4) of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The Standards Commission is satisfied that the public financing of political parties is sufficiently transparent. (Details of funding received by political parties under the Act and under the Party Leaders Allowance legislation and its expenditure is provided to the Standards Commission and is in the public domain). The Standards Commission has concerns, however, in relation to the transparency of the private funding of political parties. It is obvious that political parties are soliciting donations which are below the disclosure threshold. The Standards Commission does not consider that there is anything wrong with this. However, if the purpose of the Act is to demonstrate transparency in how political parties are funded and in particular how political parties and their candidates fund election campaigns, then this part of the legislation is not achieving that purpose. In that regard, therefore, the Standards Commission reiterates its recommendation that a new approach to the general funding of political parties is required which, in keeping with Recommendation (Rec (2003)4) of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, would require political parties to furnish accounts to an independent authority. Such accounts would specify all donations received by the party and disclose details of donations over a certain value. These accounts would subsequently be published. The Standards Commission recommends 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 this suggestion.

Back to contents