29/10/03 - Report on compliance by third parties in 2002 / 2003

Part 1. Introduction

Section 23C of the Electoral Act, 1997 (the 1997 Act), as amended by the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2001 (the 2001 Act), provides that a third party, i.e. any person other than a political party or a candidate at an election, who accepts, in a particular year, a donation for political purposes the value of which exceeds €126.97, must register with the Standards in Public Office Commission (the Standards Commission).

A full definition of "third party", "donation" and "political purposes" is given in Part 2 below.

The provisions of section 23C came into effect on 1 January 2002. While they have on-going effect, they are particularly relevant during political campaigns such as elections or referenda. In 2002 they applied to the referendum on abortion on 6 March, the Dáil general election on 17 May and the referendum on the Nice Treaty on 19 October.

A public notice, providing information on the obligations attaching to third parties, was published by the Standards Commission in the daily newspapers on 24 January 2002. On the same day, articles relating to the new provisions appeared in a number of newspapers. Also on that day, an explanatory note, outlining the relevant provisions of the legislation, was posted on the website of the Standards Commission. The public notice was published during the following week in the Sunday and provincial newspapers.

The Standards Commission received a number of enquiries from potential third parties in response to the public notice, explanatory note and media coverage. Given the general nature of the publicity at the time and the extremely wide definition of political purposes, callers included individuals and numerous bodies ranging from charities, tidy towns committees, chambers of commerce, community organisations, etc., to those such as the Union for Europe Movement and the Pro-Life Campaign.

Those individuals and groups who made contact with the Standards Commission and who considered that they might be covered by the legislation were requested to write to the Standards Commission providing details of the individual or group, an account of the activities in which it was intended to engage and an outline of any normal source of funding.

Outside of campaigns like the referendum on abortion, the 2002 Dáil general election and the Nice Treaty referendum, and because the requirement to register as a third party applies at all times once a donation of more than €126.97 for political purposes has been received, the Standards Commission is required to deal with any other case where there is evidence that an individual or group has received such a donation and has not registered.

In that regard, unless it has reason to believe that the individual or group is likely to have received a donation of more than €126.97 for political purposes, it is not the intention of the Standards Commission to pursue each individual and group involved in every type of campaign where the activities could be covered by the definition of political purposes. Such individuals or groups will, however, be contacted by the Standards Commission for clarification of their position if a complaint, or other information, is received about their failure to register.

The Standards Commission published a report in March 2003 containing details of all third parties which had applied for registration. That report may be viewed (as can this report) on the website of the Standards Commission, www.sipo.ie.

As well as the requirement to register with the Standards Commission, third parties must open and maintain a political donations account once a monetary donation of more than €126.97 has been received.

Third parties are prohibited from accepting donations with a total value in excess of
€6,348.69 from the same donor in the same year. They are also prohibited from accepting foreign donations.

The legislative provisions relating to registration, political donations accounts and prohibited donations are outlined in Part 2 of this report.

It should be noted that, in accordance with section 31(7) of the 1997 Act, groups and individuals who intended to incur expenditure at the 2002 Dáil general election and who were not connected to any political party or candidate at the election were required to register with the Standards Commission. Details of registration by such groups and individuals are included in the report of March 2003 referred to above. Where such groups or individuals actually incurred expenditure at the election, they were required to furnish an Election Expenses Statement to the Standards Commission. An account of the Election Expenses Statements so furnished is contained in the report by the Standards Commission on Election Expenses Statements and Statutory Declarations received from election agents of candidates, national agents of political parties and other persons at the Dáil general election, which was published on 11 June 2003. However, not all of the groups or individuals in question would have received donations valued in excess of €126.97. This report relates solely to those groups and individuals who did receive donations valued in excess of €126.97 and who were, therefore, in addition to any other registration requirement, obliged to register with the Standards Commission in accordance with section 23C of the 1997 Act.

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