Annual Report 2002

Payments made in respect of 2001

The Standards Commission wrote to the parliamentary leaders of the seven qualifying parties on 19 March 2002 requesting that they prepare, or cause to be prepared, a statement of any expenditure from the annual allowance which was paid under the Act in 2001. They were informed that the statement must be accompanied by an auditor's report.

The parliamentary leaders who qualified for payment in 2001 were:

Mr. Bertie Ahern, TD, Taoiseach, Fianna Fáil.
Mr. Michael Noonan, TD, Fine Gael.
Mr. Ruairí Quinn, TD, Labour Party.
Ms. Mary Harney, TD, Progressive Democrats.
Mr. Trevor Sargent, TD, Green Party.
Mr. Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, TD, Sinn Féin.
Mr. Joe Higgins, TD, Socialist Party.

The Standards Commission requested completion and return of the appropriate forms by 31 March 2002. This date, while not specified in the legislation, was chosen by the Standards Commission to ensure that parliamentary leaders had adequate time to furnish the statements before 30 April 2002, having regard to the fact that the Act provides that an allowance shall not be paid unless the statement and auditor's report have been received by the Standards Commission not more than 120 days after the end of the financial year to which the statement and auditor's report relate (i.e. by 30 April). The period of 120 days is extended by any period for which the Dáil stands dissolved which coincides with that period.

In relation to returns in respect of 2001, as the Dáil was dissolved on 25 April 2002 and did not reconvene until 6 June 2002, the date by which parliamentary leaders were required to furnish a statement of expenditure and auditor's report in respect of 2001, was extended to 12 June 2002.

A Statement of Expenditure and Public Auditor's Report was received by the Standards Commission from the parliamentary leaders of six of the seven qualifying parties within the extended deadline of 12 June 2002. The material from Fine Gael was received on 17 June 2002.

The Standards Commission considered the Statements of Expenditure and Public Auditors' Reports and was satisfied that:

a) they did not disclose any expenditure which did not comply with the Act, and

b) they were adequate and were not inappropriate.

Details of the allowances paid to the parliamentary leaders and an outline of expenditure from the allowances in 2001 are contained in Table F. Table G provides a breakdown of expenditure from the allowances.

If funding in respect of a particular year is not spent in that year, it must be accounted for in the statement(s) for the year in which it is actually spent.

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