23/12/09 - Report to Ceann Comhairle re European Elections of 5 June 2009 (pdf and text versions)

Political Donations Accounts

The Electoral Act requires that a candidate at a European Parliament election who receives a monetary donation which exceeds €126.97 must open and maintain an account in a financial institution in the State and must lodge that donation, and any further monetary donations received of whatever value, to this political donations account. When furnishing his or her Donation Statement and Statutory Declaration, an unsuccessful candidate who was required to open a political donations account must complete and furnish to the Standards Commission a Certificate of Monetary Donations which confirms that all monetary donations were lodged to the account and that all withdrawals from the account were used for political purposes.

The Certificate of Monetary Donations must also be accompanied by a statement from the financial institution where the political donations account was opened, specifying the transactions that took place in relation to the account during the period beginning on the date of opening the account and ending on polling day.

Four candidates sent neither a Donation Statement nor a Certificate of Monetary Donations while one candidate who had submitted a Donation Statement did not submit a Certificate. Section 25 of the Electoral Act 1997 as amended provides that it is an offence to fail to furnish a Donation Statement and Statutory Declaration and, where required, a Certificate of Monetary Donations and Statutory Declaration and accompanying statement from a financial institution, within 56 days of polling day. 

The successful candidates, if required to open a political donations account, must furnish a Certificate of Monetary Donations and statement from the financial institution in which the account is held, with their annual Donation Statement.

The Electoral Act provides that the Certificates of Monetary Donations, the accompanying Statutory Declarations and the statements from financial institutions are not laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and are not available for public inspection.

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