Annual Report 2005

Funding under the Electoral Acts

Since 1998 direct general funding has been provided under the Electoral Acts. This coincided with the introduction of statutory obligations whereby political parties, and others, are required to disclose donations over certain values. The level of funding was increased considerably in 2001 at a time when limits were put in place on the values of donations that could be accepted and a ban on foreign donations was introduced.

To qualify for funding under the Electoral Acts, a political party must be included in the Register of Political Parties and must have secured at least two per cent of the first preference votes at the last Dáil general election. Currently six political parties qualify on the basis of the 2002 general election results. Funding received under the Electoral Acts is not subject to income tax.

Each qualified party is now paid a basic amount of €126,974 annually. In addition, each qualified party is entitled to a share of an annual sum which is increased in line with general pay increases in the civil service. The amount of the fund payable to a qualified party is determined by expressing each qualified party's first preference votes at the most recent Dáil general election (May 2002) as a proportion of the total first preference votes received by all qualified parties. The total funding received by qualified political parties in respect of 2005 was €5,049,656.

Qualified political parties must account for their use of the funding on an annual basis. The legislation provides that the funding must be applied to the general conduct and management of the party's affairs and the lawful pursuit by it of any of its objectives and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any or all of the following purposes:

• general administration of the party;
• research, education and training;
• policy formulation;
• co-ordination of the activities of branches and party members.

The funding is also deemed to include provision in respect of the promotion of participation by women and young persons in political activity. The funding may not be used to recoup election or referendum expenses.

The appropriate officer of each qualified political party provides an Exchequer Expenditure Statement to the Standards Commission by 31 March each year. The Exchequer Expenditure Statement sets out the amount of funding received in respect of the preceding year, as well as any amount brought forward from the previous year. It must provide details under the above headings of the matters to which the funding was applied. A public auditor is required to audit the statement and the auditor's report must be submitted with the Statement to the Standards Commission. Payments are not made beyond end-April of any year to a qualified party unless it has furnished a Donation Statement and an Exchequer Expenditure Statement to the Standards Commission in respect of the preceding year.

The Standards Commission furnishes a report to the Ceann Comhairle each year giving details of the funding received under the Electoral Acts by qualified political parties for the previous year and the matters to which the funding was applied. The Exchequer Expenditure Statements and Auditors' Reports are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and are made available for public inspection and copying. The report in respect of 2005 was furnished to the Ceann Comhairle on 16 May 2006 and is available on the website of the Standards Commission.

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