11/11/04 - Report to Ceann Comhairle re European elections of 11 June 2004

Chapter 6 Notification of candidates' election agents and the national agents of political parties

Election agents

In accordance with section 28 of the Electoral Acts each candidate at a European election is required to appoint an election agent for the purpose of incurring election expenses on his/her behalf. A candidate may act as his/her own election agent.

Section 28 also provides that the returning officers for each European constituency must notify the Standards Commission of all candidates contesting the election in the constituency and provide details of the election agents, if any, appointed by those candidates. Returning officers are also required to inform the Standards Commission if they are notified by a candidate that the appointment of an election agent has been revoked and a new election agent appointed.

The Standards Commission wrote to the four returning officers on 4 May 2004 requesting that he/she provide details of each candidate contesting the election in the constituency and details of the election agents appointed by those candidates. To ensure that the guidelines were circulated as quickly as possible to all candidates and their election agents, the Standards Commission requested returning officers to fax or e-mail the relevant information to it as soon as possible after nominations for the election closed.

National agents

Section 28(1) of the Electoral Acts requires a political party which has a candidate contesting the European election to appoint a national agent and to notify the Standards Commission of the name and address of the person appointed.

The legislation requires that the Standards Commission must be notified of the appointment of a national agent not later than the last day for receiving nominations at the election. If a political party has not provided the relevant information by the last day for withdrawing nominations, the party's appropriate officer (appointed under section 71 of the Electoral Acts) is deemed to have been appointed as the national agent. If no appropriate officer stands appointed, the leader of the party is deemed to have been appointed as the national agent.

Six of the seven political parties which contested the election notified the Standards Commission of the appointment of a national agent. As the Christian Solidarity Party failed to notify the Standards Commission of the appointment of a national agent by the last day for withdrawing nominations, the party's appropriate officer was deemed to be appointed as its national agent.

As required under section 6(a) of the Electoral Acts, the Standards Commission published in Iris Oifigiúil, on 1 June 2004, the names and addresses of the national agents appointed, or deemed to have been appointed, by each of the political parties.

The candidates, their election agents and the national agents of political parties are set out at Appendix 1 to this report.

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