THE DISCLOSURE of donations to political parties has fallen to its lowest level since legislation in this regard came into operation 12 years ago, the Standards in Public Office Commission has reported.
The commission also reports that a Council of Europe evaluation team is visiting Ireland to examine legislation, practices and procedures in relation to party funding.
The group is meeting this week with political parties and civil servants as well as the commission itself.
Figures released by the commission yesterday show that political parties disclosed donations worth €96,523 for the calendar year 2008. This compares with €266,485 in 2007, the year of the last general election, and €140,753 in 2006.
Donations disclosed by the Green Party (€46,552) and Sinn Féin (€30,000) were from members of their respective parliamentary parties.
The donation disclosed by the Socialist Party (€6,348) was from former TD Joe Higgins, who was elected a member of the European Parliament for Dublin last weekend.
Nine donations totalling €1,823 were disclosed by the Christian Solidarity Party, although the party was not required to reveal them since each of these donations was significantly below the disclosure threshold of €5,078.95.
Only Fianna Fáil disclosed donations (€11,800) which were above the disclosure threshold and which were from outside the party. The donors were Boyle Sports Ltd of Dundalk, Co Louth, which gave €6,300, and Mr Phelim McCloskey, c/o Mosney Irish Holidays plc, Mosney, Co Meath, who gave €5,500.
No amounts were disclosed by Fine Gael, Labour or other, smaller parties. During 2008, a total of 14 political parties were registered to contest Dáil or European elections. Each of these parties was required to furnish a donation statement in respect of 2008 to the standards commission.
Donations exceeding €5,078.95 in value received by them during 2008 were required to be disclosed. The maximum value of donations which a political party can accept from the same donor in the same year is €6,348.69.
The report, presented to the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, John O’Donoghue, states that, when furnishing the party’s donation statement, Fianna Fáil’s director of finance, David Burke, informed the commission that, in May 2008, Boyle Sports had made a direct donation of €5,000 to Fianna Fáil headquarters.
Unknown to Fianna Fáil headquarters, Fianna Fáil’s Comhairle Dáil Cheantair (CDC) in Louth had also accepted a donation of €2,000 from this company. When the party became aware in March 2009 that donations exceeding the maximum prescribed limit had been accepted in 2008 from this company, a refund of €900 was made to Boyle Sports by Fianna Fáil Louth CDC.
Although the commission informed Mr Burke that it did not intend referring the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Garda Síochána, it nevertheless suggested that the party might once again bring the commission’s guidelines to officials who might be accepting donations on the party’s behalf.
In its report the commission repeats its recommendation that political parties should furnish accounts “to an independent authority”. These accounts, which would be published, would specify all donations received by the party and disclose details of donations over a certain value.
The commission has previously stated its concerns in relation to “the transparency of the funding of political parties” and has expressed the view that current legislation does not provide “sufficient transparency in how political parties are funded and in particular how political parties and their candidates fund election campaigns”.
The commission is chaired by former High Court judge Mr Justice Matthew P. Smith. The other five members are the Comptroller and Auditor General, John Buckley; Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly; the Clerk of Dáil Éireann, Kieran Coughlan; the Clerk of Seanad Éireann, Deirdre Lane; and former minister for defence Michael Smith.
The commission’s report is available on its website www.sipo.gov.ie
Donation statements furnished to the standards commission may be inspected and copied by members of the public at its offices at 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin.
