26/03/03 - Report on involvement by individuals and groups in the referenda on abortion and the Nice Treaty and the Dáil general election

Relevant legislation

The provisions of the legislation relating to the receipt of donations by third parties, as outlined in "Part 2. The Referendum on Abortion", also apply in connection with the receipt of donations by third parties in relation to the general election to the 29th Dáil.

In addition, the following provisions of the 1997 Act apply to third parties, and other persons, who incurred expenses at the general election. Those other persons would not be third parties, as defined in the legislation, because they would not have received a donation with a value greater than €126.97. (As already outlined, a person includes an individual, a body corporate and an unincorporated body of persons.)

Section 31(7) of the 1997 Act provides that before incurring any expenses at an election a person (other than the national agent of a political party or the election agent of a candidate or a person authorised by any such agent) who proposes to incur election expenses shall furnish to the Standards Commission in writing:

(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

Section 31(6) of the 1997 Act provides that where any election expenses are incurred at an election by a body which -

(a) was established by or on behalf of a political party or a candidate for the purposes of incurring election expenses or making payments in respect of such expenses or for any of the purposes referred to in section 31(1)(a), or

(b) is a member of or is a branch or subsidiary organisation (within the meaning of section 22 (1)) of a political party, or

(c) is effectively controlled by a political party or by a candidate or is or appears to be so connected with or associated with a political party or candidate that a reasonable person would believe that it is controlled or substantially influenced by that political party or candidate,

such expenses shall be deemed to have been incurred on behalf of the party or candidate concerned and shall be accounted for accordingly by the relevant agent.

Section 31(10) of the 1997 Act provides that the publisher of a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication shall not publish any advertisement or notice in relation to an election purporting to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the interests of a political party or a candidate at that election at the request of any person other than the national agent of a political party or a person authorised in writing by such agent, or a candidate at the election or the election agent of such candidate, or a person authorised in writing by such candidate or agent, unless the person produces to the said publisher a certificate from the Standards Commission that that person has complied with the provisions of section 31(7) in relation to that election.

Section 43(3) of the 1997 Act provides that it is an offence for a person to whom section 31(7) applies to fail to notify the Standards Commission of his or her intention to incur election expenses.

Section 43(4) of the 1997 Act provides that a person who breaches section 31(10) shall be guilty of an offence.

Having regard to the foregoing, if a person, as defined above, received a donation valued in excess of €126.97 for political purposes and also intended to incur expenses at the general election in accordance with section 31(7) of the 1997 Act, that person would be required to register with the Standards Commission as a third party under section 23C of the 1997 Act and to meet the other statutory obligations attaching to third parties (see Part 2 of this report) and, separately, would be required to register with the Standards Commission under section 31(7) in order to incur election expenses.

If a person, as defined above, did not receive a donation valued in excess of €126.97 for political purposes but did intend to incur expenses at the election, pursuant to section 31(7), that person would not be a third party and would not be required to comply with the requirements of section 23C but would be required to register with the Standards Commission under section 31(7).

Once a third party or other person notifies the Standards Commission, under section 31(7), of an intention to incur expenses at an election, there is no limit to the amount of expenses that may be incurred by the third party or other person.

Section 36(1)(a) of the 1997 Act provides that every person, including a third party, who incurs election expenses under section 31(7) must, within 56 days after polling day at the election, furnish a statement in writing to the Standards Commission of all such expenses. This date was amended by the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act[http://www.gov.ie/bills28/acts/2002/a2302.pdf], 2002 to 31 October 2002, or 21 days after the Supreme Court judgement in the proceedings entitled Desmond Kelly, Applicant and the Minister for the Environment, Ireland and the Attorney General, Respondents, whichever was the later. The judgement of the Supreme Court was delivered on 29 November 2002. Accordingly the date for furnishing the Election Expenses Statements was 20 December 2002.

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