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Annual Report 2002
Nice Treaty Referendum
Polling at the Nice Treaty referendum took place on 19 October 2002. A public notice, which provided information on the obligations attaching to third parties, was published by the Standards Commission in the daily and Sunday newspapers on 13 and 15 September 2002, respectively. An explanatory note outlining the relevant provisions of the legislation was published on the website of the Standards Commission (www.sipo.ie).
The following is the position relating to individuals or groups that were involved in the Nice Treaty Referendum campaign:
- sixteen groups or individuals registered with the Standards Commission, namely, "Ireland for Europe", "Irish Alliance for Europe", "European Access Providers Limited", "IFSC for Yes", "No to Nice Campaign", "Irish Business and Employers Confederation", "Disability Alliance for Europe", "Concerned Christians against Nice", "Equal in Europe", "The National Platform", Mr. Anthony Coughlan, "Immigration Control Platform", "Alliance Against Nice", "Women for a Yes Vote", "Democrats against Nice" and "Peace and Neutrality Alliance".
- it was not necessary for "Afri", "Yes to Nice.com", "Irish Congress of Trade Unions", "Dublin Chamber of Commerce", "The Irish Farmers Association" and "Cork Chamber of Commerce" to register as a third party.
- while no reply was received from "European Movement Ireland", there was no evidence that it received a donation in excess of €126.97 for political purposes and, accordingly, there was no evidence that it should register as a third party;
- in relation to one group, "Libertarians Against Nice", which used a Post Box Number, at the time of writing, the Standards Commission is in correspondence with An Post with a view to getting the name and address of the subscriber to the PO Box Number.
During the Nice Treaty referendum campaign there appeared to be a far greater awareness of the requirements in relation to third parties than was the case with the referendum on abortion or the Dáil general election. Seven of the groups/individuals which or who had registered as third parties had contacted the Standards Commission before the public notice appeared in the newspapers. Another eight contacted the Standards Commission after the notice appeared. The other group which registered did so after it was contacted by the Standards Commission.
The Standards Commission presented a report to the Ceann Comhairle on the activities of the third parties referred to above as it was anxious to outline to the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the issues which have arisen in the supervision of this aspect of the legislation. Also, the report might be useful to the Minister and the Houses when carrying out a review of the legislation, as was indicated by the Minister in his address to the Seanad in the course of the debate on the Electoral (Amendment) (No 2) Bill, 2002. The report is on the Standards Commission website (www.sipo.ie).
The responsible person of all of those third parties (i.e. the person or persons responsible for the organisation, management or financial affairs of the third party) which have registered with the Standards Commission and which have received a monetary donation exceeding €126.97, must, by 31 March 2003, furnish to the Standards Commission a statement, provided by the financial institution where the third party has opened a political donations account, specifying the transactions that have taken place in relation to the account during the preceding year. The responsible person must also furnish a certificate stating that all monetary donations received by the third party during the preceding year were lodged to the said account and that all amounts debited from the account were used for political purposes. The certificate must be accompanied by a statutory declaration that, to the best of the person's knowledge and belief, the certificate is correct in every material respect and that the person has taken all reasonable action in order to be satisfied as to the accuracy of the certificate. In accordance with the terms of the legislation, such certificates, statements and statutory declarations are not laid before the Houses and are not for public display.
The Standards Commission will prepare and publish a report on certificates, statements and statutory declarations when the relevant material has been received and considered.
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