THE GOVERNMENT has been urged to accept a recommendation that spending limits be imposed on companies campaigning in referendums.
Roger Cole, chairman of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (Pana), which is advocating a No vote in the second Lisbon referendum next October, said it was unfair that there were no limits imposed on wealthy companies.
“You could have a North Korean company coming here and spending a vast amount of money advocating a Yes vote,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Standards In Public Office Commission, the independent body which oversees spending in elections and referendums, said yesterday that there was no spending limit for individuals and companies.
“It is only when they start receiving donations that the legislation kicks in,” she added.
The spokeswoman said that the commission, in its annual report, had called for a redefinition of what constituted a “third party”, subject to limits on spending in a referendum campaign.
It argued that the definition should not be determined on the basis of whether an individual or group had received a donation, but should focus instead on how much they spent.
They should be regarded as “third parties” if they intend spending over a certain threshold.
Last week, the general manager of Intel Ireland, Jim O’Hara, said that voting Yes for Lisbon was hugely important for the future of foreign investment in Ireland.
Mr Cole said that Intel, “as a company that manufactures chips that have a military application”, intended spending vast sums advocating a Yes vote for a treaty which the people had already rejected.
Last night, Minister of State for European Affairs Dick Roche said a Yes vote in the Lisbon referendum was the only way to secure Ireland’s future, as now was not the time to play Russian roulette with the economic wellbeing of the nation. He said the referendum on October 2nd would be a milestone for Ireland, as it would represent a decision that would shape our future for years to come.
“We need to decide if we want to join with our 26 fellow EU members in ratifying the Lisbon Treaty. The alternative is for us to go out on a limb by being the only EU country unable to accept the reforms contained in the treaty,” Mr Roche said.
He said business leaders with absolutely no political axes to grind had asked the people of Ireland to support the Lisbon Treaty referendum because they understood how critically important it was for investment in jobs to take place that Ireland should stay at the heart of the European Union.
The Minister cited Paul Rellis, the general manager of Microsoft in Ireland and the chairman of Glen Dimplex, Martin Naughton, as pointing out that a more efficient EU would sustain economic growth nationally as well as promote international trade.
However, the Irish Fishermen’s Organisation said yesterday it feared that a Yes vote would mean its members would have no further say in the future of the Irish fishing industry, which it said had suffered hugely under the existing Common Fisheries Policy.
Ebbie Sheehan, chairman of the IFO, which represents the majority of the country’s 5,000 fishermen, said they believed there already existed a two-tier Europe when it came to fishing, with Irish fishermen being subjected to unfair quotas, tougher enforcement and criminalisation, unlike their counterparts in other EU countries.
Speaking at an IFO committee meeting in Cork to decide on its strategy when campaigning for a No vote on Lisbon, Mr Sheehan said fishermen felt hugely let down by the Government’s handling of its negotiations with Europe over the treaty.
