13/12/07 - Report on disclosure of donations and election expenses at Dáil general election of 2007

3.10 - Consideration of Election Agents' Election Expenses Statements

468 election agent Election Expenses Statement forms have now been received. As required by section 4(1) of the Act, the Standards Commission has considered these Election Expenses Statements and has found approximately 60% of them to have been incorrectly completed. In addition a similar percentage of election agents failed to comply with the requirements under section 31(9) and 36(1)(a) of the Act to provide invoices, receipts or vouchers for all election expenses exceeding €126.97 in value.

To avoid returning every Election Expenses Statement which contained an error, the Standards Commission secretariat contacted election agents by telephone or by e-mail, to clarify errors or request outstanding invoices/receipts. Where it was possible to do so, the Standards Commission clarified the error by means of an explanatory note which it has included with the Election Expenses Statement. The Standards Commission has also attached a Summary Sheet to each Election Expenses Statement. The summary sheet gives details of the total expenses incurred by the election agent under the relevant headings (set out in the Schedule to the Act).

Notwithstanding this approach, approximately 100 forms still had to be returned to the agents concerned. The Act provides that where the Standards Commission considers that there may be a minor error or omission in an Election Expenses Statement, it may afford the election agent 14 days to rectify the error or make good the omission. It is an offence under section 43(2)(e) of the Act for an election agent to fail to comply with this requirement. In some instances the Standards Commission experienced considerable difficulties in getting election agents to amend and return their Election Expenses Statements or to furnish relevant invoices/receipts. At the end of October the Standards Commission issued a letter to approximately 30 election agents whose Election Expenses Statement had not been finalised or from whom relevant outstanding invoices/receipts had not been received. The letter informed election agents that the Standards Commission intended presenting its report on the election to the Ceann Comhairle. Election agents were advised of the offence above under section 43(2)(e) of the Act and were informed that if a correctly completed Election Expenses Statement or the relevant invoices/receipts had not been received by the time the report went to print, they would be cited in the report as having failed to comply with section 36 of the Act.

At the time of publication of this report - over four months after the statutory deadline for receipt of Election Expenses Statements and almost six months after the forms were originally issued - correctly completed Election Expenses Statements have still not been received from the following three election agents:

• Ms. Trish Forde-Brennan acted as own agent (Green Party, Limerick East) - original form returned in order that items which were not election expenses could be removed. Amended Election Expenses Statement form yet to be received.  The Standards Commission subsequently discovered that an amended Election Expenses Statement form had been received from Ms. Forde-Brennan and had been misfiled.  The amended Election Expenses Statement has been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
• Mr. Felim McDonnell - election agent for Ms. Margaret Cox (Non-party, Galway West) - amended Election Expenses Statement not received.
• Mr. David Williams - election agent for Ms. Madeleine Taylor Quinn (Fine Gael, Clare) - clarification required.

In addition the following election agents have yet to furnish invoices/receipts relevant to their Election Expenses Statements:

• Dr. John F. Corish - acted as own agent (non-party, Kildare North) - clarification and outstanding receipt/invoice required.
• Mr. Niall Kelleher - election agent for Mr. Tom Fleming (Fianna Fáil, Kerry South).
• Mr. Barry Kennedy - election agent for Mr. Paudie Coffey, Jim D'Arcy and John Deasy (Fine Gael, Waterford).

Failure on the part of agents to correctly complete their Election Expenses Statements and delays in returning amended statements create a difficulty for the Standards Commission in terms of making its report to the Ceann Comhairle and putting the material on public display in a timely manner. The Standards Commission is conscious of the desirability of having Donation Statements and Election Expenses Statements on public display as soon as possible after the statutory deadline for their receipt. It is of the view, however, that before the material can be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and put on public display, it must be satisfied that the information contained therein is correct. To avoid a delay in making the material available, the Standards Commission could allow what it believed to be incorrectly completed returns to be put into the public domain. This is not considered to be a satisfactory manner in which to discharge a statutory duty to the Houses of the Oireachtas and the general public. Consequently those Election Expenses Statements which have not been finalised are not being laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Standards Commission will continue to pursue the correct completion of an Election Expenses Statement form and the furnishing of relevant invoices/receipts with these agents. Reimbursements of election expenses which may be due to the candidates concerned will not be processed until such time as the Standards Commission is satisfied that the election agent's Election Expenses Statement is correct and all relevant invoices/receipts received. If necessary the Standards Commission will refer a file on the agents concerned to the Gardaí for an investigation of the offence under section 43(2)(e) of the Act.

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