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

Chapter 13 Reimbursement of election expenses

A total of 27 candidates qualified for a reimbursement of election expenses. To qualify for a reimbursement, a candidate must either have been elected or, if unsuccessful at the election, must have received, at any stage of the counting of votes, in excess of one-quarter of the quota in the constituency.

The Standards Commission is required to certify to the Minister for Finance that a candidate is eligible for a reimbursement of his/her election expenses and that an Election Expenses Statement, completed in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Acts and the guidelines published by the Standards Commission, has been furnished to the Standards Commission in relation to the candidate. The Standards Commission is also required to notify the Minister for Finance of the expenditure incurred by each candidate and of the reimbursement due in each case.

As stated in Chapter 10 above, it is the practice of the Standards Commission not to issue an Application for Reimbursement of Election Expenses form to a qualified candidate until such time as all matters relating to the completion of his/her statutory returns have been finalised. Reimbursement application forms have been issued to all 27 qualified candidates. Fifteen of these have been returned to the Standards Commission and the necessary certification for payment has been forwarded to the Department of Finance.

The qualified candidates and the amounts of the reimbursements due to them are outlined in Appendix 10 to this report.

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