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

Chapter 7 Notifications received under section 31(7) of the Electoral Acts

Section 31(7) of the Electoral Acts provides that any person who intends to incur election expenses at a European election, who has not been authorised to do so by either the election agent of a candidate or the national agent of a political party, must, before incurring any such expenses, provide the following information to the Standards Commission:

(a) the name, address and description of the person proposing to incur the expenses,

(b) a statement of the nature, purpose and estimated amount of such expenses, and

(c) an indication of the person's connection, if any, with any party or candidate at the election.

It is an offence for a person to whom section 31(7) applies to fail to comply with the above requirements.

It should be noted that the requirements of section 31(7) apply only to persons who intend to incur election expenses and are separate and additional to any requirement to register with the Standards Commission as a "third party" under section 23C of the Electoral Acts (see paragraph 2.16 above). It should also be noted that, once a person has complied with the requirements of section 31(7), there is no statutory limit to the amount of expenses which may be incurred by that person at the election.

The Standards Commission published a notice regarding the requirements of section 31(7) in the national and local newspapers. The notice appeared in provincial newspapers during the week beginning 3 May 2004, in the national newspapers on Thursday, 6 May 2004 and in the Sunday newspapers on 9 May 2004.

The following people notified the Standards Commission in advance of their intention to incur election expenses:

1) Mr. Jim O'Brien, Head of Office, European Parliament Office, European Union House, 43 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 and
2) Mr. Alan McPartland, 21 Grange Court, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16

Every person who incurred election expenses pursuant to section 31(7) of the Electoral Acts was required to furnish an Election Expenses Statement to the Standards Commission by 6 August 2004. Mr. O'Brien completed and returned his Election Expenses Statement within the statutory deadline. Mr. McPartland informed the Standards Commission that he had not incurred the intended expenditure. He was not, therefore, required to complete an Election Expenses Statement.

From its monitoring of advertisements and reports in local newspapers, the Standards Commission became aware of activity by the following groups at the European election:

1) County Monaghan Community Alliance,
2) Ennis General Hospital Development Committee (EGHDC),
3) Nenagh Hospital Action Group (NHAG), and
4) Health Services Action Group.

The Standards Commission wrote to each of the groups drawing their attention to the requirements of section 31(7) and to the requirement to register as a third party if a donation valued in excess of €126.97 was received for political purposes. Having considered the responses of County Monaghan Community Alliance and the Health Services Action Group, the Standards Commission was satisfied that these bodies had not incurred election expenses at the European election.

The Standards Commission was of the view, however, that advertisements which were placed by EGHDC with the Clare Champion newspaper and published during the election period, constituted election expenses in that they sought to influence the outcome of the European election. The Standards Commission was of a similar view in relation to a leaflet produced by NHAG.

The Standards Commission wrote to both groups enclosing an Election Expenses Statement / Statutory Declaration form (EP/04/EES/TP/OP) for completion. Both groups were advised that, as they had failed to register with the Standards Commission in compliance with section 31(7), an offence under section 43(3) of the Electoral Acts may have been committed. They were informed that if they otherwise complied with the provisions of the legislation, i.e. by providing details of the election expenses incurred, the Standards Commission would not seek to have them prosecuted for the possible offence.

An Election Expenses Statement was subsequently received from Senator Kathleen O'Meara on behalf of NHAG and from Mr. Joe Arkins on behalf of EGHDC. The Standards Commission does not propose to take any further action with regard to either group.

It is, of course, possible that other individuals and groups incurred expenditure at the election and did not notify, or otherwise come to the attention of, the Standards Commission. If evidence of any such group or individual becomes available, the Standards Commission will take the appropriate action.

Details of the expenses incurred by Mr. O'Brien, by Nenagh Hospital Action Group and by Ennis General Hospital Development Committee are provided in Appendix 9 to this report.

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