THREE OIREACHTAS members have been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for failing to disclose documentation on 2009 donations to the Standards in Public Office Commission.
The commission compiles an annual report on donations disclosed by TDs and Senators, as well as MEPs, which is furnished to the Ceann Comhairle in accordance with the Electoral Act 1997. The deadline for supplying information relating to last year was January 31st. “It is an offence not to supply the documentation so the commission has referred these cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions,” a commission spokesman said last night.
Ten members were contacted by the commission when they had not returned the required information by the January 31st deadline. Seven then submitted the relevant documentation, while the outstanding three have been referred to the DPP.
It is understood that one of the three has subsequently been in touch with the commission and has undertaken to submit the completed forms as a matter of urgency.
The three Oireachtas members could not be identified last night. A Fianna Fáil spokeswoman said queries from the commission “are not routed through headquarters so it’s a matter for each TD individually”. A spokesman for Fine Gael said the commission dealt directly with individual politicians, who were requested to respond to it with the relevant documentation.
A Labour Party spokesman said TDs and Senators from that party had got several reminders from the party whip to supply the relevant documentation to the commission. He said he was not aware of any Labour representatives having missed the deadline. A Green Party spokesman said as far as headquarters was aware all members of the parliamentary party had complied with the commission. Donations exceeding €634.87 in value must be disclosed in a statement to the commission, along with a statutory declaration.
The maximum value of donations which an Oireachtas member or MEP may accept from the same donor in one calendar year, either directly or through an intermediary, is €2,539.48. The figures of €634.87 and €2,539.48 are converted from round figures in Irish pounds.
Anonymous donations, where the name and address of the donor is not known to the recipient, cannot exceed €126.97 in value. Donations of any value cannot be accepted from a person residing outside Ireland, unless the person is an Irish citizen.
A donation is defined as any contribution given for political purposes by any person, whether or not the person is a member of a political party. It can include money, property, goods and services.
In 2008, donations with a total value of €109,135 were disclosed by 20 TDs, according to Sipo’s report on that year.
