21/06/07 - Report on expenditure of the Party Leaders Allowance (2006)

Part 3 - Purposes for which the Party Leaders Allowance is provided

Section 1.10(1) of the Act provides that the allowance shall be paid to the parliamentary leader of a qualifying party in relation to expenses arising from the parliamentary activities, including research, of the party. 

Section 1.10(14) of the Act provides that "expenses arising from the parliamentary activities, including research" include expenditure on the following matters:

(a) the general administration of the parliamentary activities of a qualifying party,

(b) the provision of technical or specialist advice likely to be required in connection with legislative proposals or potential parliamentary initiatives,

(c) research and training,

(d) policy formulation,

(e) the provision of consultant services, including the engagement of public relations services,

(f) polling or public attitude sampling in connection with parliamentary debates or initiatives,

(g) the purchase of support services for a parliamentary party from the party,

(h) the payment to a parliamentary leader of any salary or honorarium in respect of duties arising from his or her activities as such leader as distinct from those of a member of Dáil Éireann or a holder of a Ministerial office,

(i) the payment to another person of any salary or honorarium in respect of duties arising from the person's activities in a parliamentary party,

(j) the provision for, or recoupment of, transport and personal expenditure incurred by a parliamentary leader, officers or a parliamentary party spokesperson as a result of their parliamentary party function,

(k) entertainment.

Section 1.10(13) of the Act provides that the Minister for Finance may, by regulation, extend the above list after consulting the parliamentary leaders and after considering any report made by the Standards Commission.

Section 1.10(5) of the Act provides that the allowance shall not be used for, or to recoup, expenses incurred for the purposes of an election or a referendum. During 2006, certain media reports suggested that Exchequer funding received by qualified political parties might be used to finance "pre-election" spending at the 2007 Dáil general election. "Pre-election" means expenses incurred on goods, property or services which are used prior to the dissolution of Dáil Éireann. The Standards Commission took the view that it was not appropriate to use funding received under the Party Leaders Allowance legislation to finance any form of election spending at either the Dáil or Seanad general elections. It issued guidelines to this effect in November 2006 to each of the seven political parties qualified to receive Exchequer funding under the Party Leaders Allowance legislation. These guidelines were also published on the website of the Standards Commission.

The guidelines stated that where it was evident from a Statement of Expenditure of the Party Leaders Allowance that the Allowance had been used for electoral purposes, the Standards Commission would publish details of such use in its report to the Minister for Finance and would inform the Minister for Finance that, in its opinion, an inappropriate use of the funding had occurred. It would then be a matter for the Minister for Finance to decide what action should be taken with regard to future payments of the Party Leaders Allowance to the party concerned.

The parliamentary party leaders were required to state on their Statement of Expenditure of the Party Leaders Allowance if the Allowance has been used for electoral purposes. Each of the seven parliamentary party leaders have stated that the Allowance was not used for electoral purposes.

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