Annual Report 2002

Donations disclosed by unsuccessful candidates at the Dáil General Election

Donation Statements and Statutory Declarations from unsuccessful candidates at the Dáil general election were due to be furnished to the Standards Commission by 12 July 2002, i.e. 56 days after polling day. Unsuccessful candidates were required to disclose details of any donations valued in excess of €634.87 received in relation to the election.

The number of candidates contesting the Dáil general election was 463. Excluding the Ceann Comhairle, 165 candidates were elected, leaving a total of 298 unsuccessful candidates from whom Donation Statements and Statutory Declarations were required. Donations with a total value of €274,466.29 were disclosed by these candidates - see Table A below. It should be noted that it is an annual requirement for sitting members of the Dáil and Seanad to furnish a Donation Statement and a Statutory Declaration.

The largest single donor was Sinn Féin which gave monetary donations totalling €43,511.43 to its unsuccessful candidates of which €12,971.04 was subsequently refunded to the party by those candidates who had accepted donations from the party in excess of the statutory limit - see below. Other political parties - Fine Gael (€5,790 of which €710.52 was refunded), Fianna Fáil (€5,437.50), the Labour Party (€3,873.59), the Green Party (€2,239.00) and the Workers' Party (€900) - also gave monetary donations to their unsuccessful candidates.

The second largest single donor was SIPTU which gave donations totalling €26,900 to candidates of the Labour Party. Three other trades unions - ASTI (€3,500), INTO (€2,538.74) and MSF (€2,000) - also made donations to candidates at the election.

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