Annual Report 2002

Registration of Third Parties

Background

Section 23C of the Electoral Act, 1997, as inserted by the 2001 Act, provides that a third party, i.e. any person, other than a political party or a candidate at an election, who accepts, in a particular year, a donation for political purposes the value of which exceeds €126.97, must register with the Standards Commission.

The provisions of section 23C came into effect on 1 January 2002. While they have on-going effect, they are particularly relevant during political campaigns such as elections or referenda. In 2002 they applied to the referendum on abortion on 6 March, the Dáil general election on 17 May and the Nice Treaty referendum on 19 October.

A public notice, providing information on the obligations attaching to third parties, was published by the Standards Commission in the daily newspapers on 24 January 2002. On the same day, articles relating to the new provisions appeared in a number of newspapers. Also on that day, an explanatory note, outlining the relevant provisions of the legislation, was published on the website of the Standards Commission (www.sipo.ie). The public notice was published during the following week in the Sunday and provincial newspapers.

The Standards Commission received a number of enquiries from potential third parties in response to the public notice, explanatory note and media coverage. Given the general nature of the publicity at the time and the extremely wide definition of political purposes, callers included individuals and numerous bodies ranging from charities, tidy towns committees, chambers of commerce, community organisations, etc., to those such as the Union for Europe Movement and the Pro-Life Campaign.

Those individuals and groups who made contact with the Standards Commission, who considered that they might be covered by the legislation, were requested to write to the Standards Commission providing details of the individual or group, an account of the activities in which it was intended to engage and an outline of any normal source of funding.

The Standards Commission decided that the approach it would take in dealing with such individuals and groups would be to contact all of those coming to its attention in relation to particular campaigns, e.g. the referendum on abortion, the Dáil general election 2002 and the Nice Treaty referendum.

Outside of such campaigns, and because the requirement to register as a third party applies at all times once a donation of more than €126.97 for political purposes has been received, the Standards Commission is required to deal with any other case where there is evidence that an individual or group has received such a donation and has not registered. In that regard, unless it has reason to believe that the individual or group is likely to have received a donation of more than €126.97 for political purposes, it is not the intention of the Standards Commission to pursue each individual and group involved in every type of campaign where the activities could be covered by the definition of political purposes. Such individuals or groups will, however, be contacted by the Standards Commission for clarification of their position if a complaint, or other information, is received about their failure to register.

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