Annual Report 2008

Disclosure of Donations

Donations disclosed by TDs, Senators and MEPs

A person who was a TD, Senator or MEP during 2008 was required to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission by 31 January 2009. Donations received during 2008 which exceeded a value of €634.87 were required to be disclosed. Donations from the same person in the same year must be aggregated for the purposes of observing the disclosure threshold and the maximum acceptance limit (€2,539.48). 237 Donation Statements were received for 2008. This total comprised 164 Donation Statements from TDs (Donation Statements were not required to be received in respect of the late Deputies Brennan and Gregory), 60 from Senators and 13 from MEPs. Donations totalling €163,394 [of which €5,000 was returned to the donors (€2,500 was returned to a donor because the donation concerned was in excess of the maximum prescribed limit)] were disclosed. Donations disclosed included money and the free use of property or services. The amount disclosed represents a decrease of €692,601 on the figure of €855,995.05 (€764,222.55 net of donations returned) disclosed for 2007 and reflects the fact that 2007 was an election year.

Details of the donations disclosed in respect of 2008 are available in a report to the Ceann Comhairle which was published on 29 April 2009. The report is also available on the Standards Commission's website.

Political Donations Accounts

Members and MEPs are required to open and maintain a political donations account if a monetary donation of €126.97 is received. All subsequent monetary donations must be lodged to the account and all monies from the account must be used for political purposes. The Standards Commission considers that it is implicit in the legislation that the person receiving donations should have control over the political donations account. The account should be in the person's name and he/she should be a signatory on the account. He/She should also be provided with documentation relating to the account. Responsibility for the account should not be assigned to other persons (i.e., a political party, director of elections, fund-raising group, etc.).

If there were transactions on the political donations account during 2008, a Member/MEP was required to furnish with the Donation Statement a statement from the bank in which the account was held. The statement must show all of the transactions on the account during 2008. The Member/MEP was also required to furnish a Certificate of Monetary Donations on which he/she certified that all monetary donations were lodged to the account and that all monies from the account were used for political purposes. A Member/MEP whose political donations account was not active during 2008 was required only to state this on the Certificate of Monetary Donations and was not required to complete the Statutory Declaration or to forward a copy of a bank statement. 34 TDs, 25 Senators and six MEPs stated that they did not have a political donations account. 79 TDs, 23 Senators and 2 MEPs submitted bank statements to the Standards Commission in respect of 2008. 51 TDs, 12 Senators and 5 MEPs stated that there were no transactions on their political donations account during 2008 and were not required to submit a bank statement.

Definition of "subsidiary companies" for the purposes of the Electoral Acts

An issue which the Standards Commission had to consider during 2008 was whether the definition of "subsidiary", provided for in section 155 of the Companies Act, should be applied to the Electoral Acts or whether the "ordinary" meaning of the word should be applied. This followed a request for advice from a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas who had received donations from connected companies. The Member had been informed that the companies were not subsidiaries of each other. In view of the connection between the companies, however, the Member sought advice as to whether the companies should be regarded as the same donor for the purposes of the Electoral Acts.

A donation is defined in the Electoral Acts as a contribution given for political purposes by any person. "A person" is defined in section 2 of the 1997 Act as including an individual, a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons. A body corporate and any of its subsidiaries are deemed to be the one person. The Electoral Acts do not provide a definition of "a subsidiary" of a body corporate. The Standards Commission sought legal advice on the matter and was advised that the word "subsidiary" as used in the definition of the term "person" in section 2 of the 1997 Act should be construed by reference to the definition given to that word by section 155 of the Companies Act 1963.

The Member was advised accordingly. The Standards Commission also wrote to each TD, Senator and MEP and to the appropriate officers of each political party informing them of the advice received by the Standards Commission and the meaning which should now be applied to the word "subsidiary" for the purposes of the Electoral Acts. The Standards Commission also informed the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government of the advice it had received and suggested that a specific reference to section 155 of the Companies Act might be provided at section 2 of the 1997 Act.

Donations disclosed by individual donors

Section 24(1A) of the 1997 Act, as amended, provides that any individual, who in a particular year, makes donations exceeding €5,078.95 in aggregate value to:

two or more persons who were members of the same political party when the donations were made, or
a political party, and to one or more of its members,

must furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission. The Donation Statement, which is accompanied by a statutory declaration, must give details of the donations and the persons to whom they were made and must be furnished by 31 January of the following year. The Donation Statement must be furnished irrespective of whether the person receiving the donation has an obligation to disclose the donation.

The Standards Commission was aware from Donation Statements furnished by unsuccessful candidates at the Dáil and Seanad general elections and Donation Statements furnished by TDs, Senators and MEPs in respect of 2007 that a Mr Patrick O'Meara, Thurles, Co Tipperary had made donations exceeding €5,078.95 to members of Fianna Fáil during 2007.

The Standards Commission wrote to Mr O'Meara on 3 April 2008 setting out the requirements of the Act. He was requested to furnish a Donation Statement in respect of all donations made by him during 2007 to Fianna Fáil or any of its members. A Donation Statement was received from Mr O'Meara on 2 May 2008. Although he had contravened the provisions of section 24(1A) by failing to furnish his Donation Statement by the statutory deadline of 31 January 2008, the Standards Commission decided that, as Mr O'Meara had otherwise complied with the provisions of the Act by furnishing a Donation Statement, it would not refer the matter to the DPP/Gardaí.

Mr O'Meara's Donation Statement disclosed 18 separate donations totalling €17,635 made to Fianna Fáil and its members during 2007. (Two further donations of €500 each made to non-party candidates at the Dáil general election were also disclosed.) Eleven of these donations were above the disclosure threshold of €634.87 and had been made to persons who had been required to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission (either as an elected Member or as an unsuccessful candidate at the general elections). Six of the 11 donations had already been disclosed by the recipients on their Donation Statements.

The following five donations disclosed by Mr O'Meara as having been made during 2007 had not been disclosed by the recipients:

€1,000 cheque to Senator Cecelia Keaveney
€1,000 cheque to Senator Lisa McDonald
€2,000 cheque to Cllr Tom Fleming
€1,000 cheque to Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick
€1,000 cheque to Patrick Boshell MCC for the election fund for Deputy Thomas Byrne.

The Standards Commission wrote to each of these persons asking them to explain why the donation from Mr O'Meara had not been disclosed.

Details of the donations disclosed by Mr O'Meara and the enquiries made by the Standards Commission are set out in a report which the Standards Commission furnished to the Ceann Comhairle on 26 March 2009. This report is also available on the website of the Standards Commission. Mr O'Meara's Donation Statement/Statutory Declaration was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on the same day and is available for public inspection.

Donations disclosed by political parties for 2008

Fourteen political parties were registered in the Register of Political Parties during 2008 to contest a Dáil or European election. Each of these parties was required to furnish a Donation Statement to the Standards Commission by 31 March 2009. Donations received during 2008 which exceeded an aggregate value of €5,078.95 were required to be disclosed. The maximum value of donations which a political party can accept from the same person in the same calendar year is €6,348.69. Donations received from the same donor in the same calendar year must be aggregated for the purposes of observing the disclosure and maximum acceptance limits. The total value of donations disclosed by parties in respect of 2008 was €94,700.60. Details of the donations disclosed by political parties in respect of 2008 are available in a report which the Standards Commission furnished to the Ceann Comhairle on 9 June 2009. The report is also available on the Standards Commission website.

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