The Exchequer gave the State's political parties almost 70 times the total received in disclosable donations from private individuals and companies in 2003, according to figures released yesterday by the Standards in Public Office Commission.
The phenomenon of substantial direct corporate funding of political parties was virtually non-existent in 2003, according to the figures. Just one disclosable donation from a non-politician - from a development company to Fianna Fáil - was made in 2003.
Registered political parties received 162,007.56 in disclosable donations in 2003, with almost all of this - €159,429 - given by Green Party, Sinn Féin, Labour and Socialist Party elected representatives to party headquarters.
In contrast, the political parties received €10.97 million from the State in 2003, a figure dwarfing the donations received. The State funding consisted of €4.72 million in direct payments under the Electoral Acts, and 6.25 million under the Party Leaders' Allowance legislation. Salaries, allowances and expenses paid to TDs, senators and MEPs are in addition to these sums.
The figures show that State funding of parties has increased so substantially in recent years that the parties had difficulty in spending their 2003 allocation. Fianna Fáil carried forward €490,396 in unspent money to 2004, while Fine Gael carried forward 255,527 and Labour 122,466.
A Fianna Fáil spokeswoman said yesterday that the rules governing how this money should be spent were strict - it can't be spent for electoral purposes, for example - and so the party had adopted a very cautious approach to spending it, and this would be rectified.
Fine Gael's general secretary, Mr Tom Curran, said funding had increased substantially at the end of 2001, and the party had decided "it wouldn't have been prudent to front-load the spending".
Labour's general secretary, Mr Mike Allen, said his party's apparent failure to spend State funding was largely an accounting phenomenon, due to the receipt of tranches of State money late in the calendar year. They did not have a substantial sum of unspent money in the bank, he said.
Parties are required only to disclose donations from any donor worth over 5,078.95 during the year. The maximum value of donations a party could accept from the same donor was 6,348.69 during the year.
These limits mean that substantial sums raised through dinners and other fundraising events are not included in these figures.
Sinn Féin received 103,583.87 in donations in 2003, almost two-thirds of the donations received by all parties.
These donations consisted entirely of payments from their TDs in the Republic and MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) in the North towards the party's Republic of Ireland operation. In addition, the party received 416,566 in direct Exchequer funding and 266,325 through the Party Leader's Allowance.
The party's 12 MLAs gave just over 6,000 each, amounting to 73,235.18 in total. Donations made to political parties in Northern Ireland need only be disclosed to the Standards in Public Office Commission if they are spent on funding that party in the State.
Therefore the party's elected representatives in the North provide substantial funding to the party's operations in the Republic.
In addition, four of the party's five TDs gave €6,000 each to the party in 2003, with the party's Dáil leader, Mr Caoimhghín O'Caoláin, giving 6,348.69, the maximum allowable by law.
A Sinn Féin spokesman said yesterday that the TDs also give substantial funding to their constituency operations out of their TDs' salaries and expenses. A spokesman for the Standards in Public Office Commission said such funding does not need to be declared as a donation.
The Green Party received the next highest donation total - some €43,296 consisting entirely of payments from its six TDs and two MEPs. MEPs Ms Nuala Ahern and Ms Patricia McKenna gave 6,348 each. Dáil deputies Mr Dan Boyle, Mr Ciaran Cuffe, Mr Paul Gogarty, Mr John Gormley, Mr Trevor Sargent and Mr Eamon Ryan gave 5,100 each.
The Labour Party MEP Mr Proinsias De Rossa gave the maximum, 6,348.69, to his party, representing the only disclosable donation received by Labour in 2003.
The Socialist Party leader Mr Joe Higgins also gave €6,200 to his party, the only disclosable donation received by it in 2003.
Fianna Fáil was the only party to receive a disclosable donation from someone other than a politician in 2003, the figures show. The party received 8,579 from Airscape Ltd, the developer of the Park West Industrial Estate. However, as the maximum donation allowable from any one donor is 6,348.69, Fianna Fáil returned 2,300 to Airscape.