Sir, - Dail Eireann, in the interest of democracy, must not inflict upon the electorate through legislation compulsory funding of its political parties by use of State finances, to pay their election organisational and administrative costs and expenses annually. Such a decision should not be made until voted for by the electorate in a referendum.
The democratic system, for survival, requires much greater transparency at political party level in this country. It is the concealment by the political parties of the sources and amounts of the financial subscriptions they receive that creates suspicion. Dail Eireann should legislate to bind political parties to publish donations in excess of £5,000 a year from individuals or firms at a given date each year, naming the source of the donation.
The good health of democracy demands that the funds for all political parties' total activities should come from their membership supporters and admirers, and not from State finances. The current emphasis on how political parties raise their funds must not divert attention away from how individual members, past and present, of Dail Eireann may have benefitted personally from gifts. and other alleged arrangements with commercial and other interests over many years.
All party politicians are probably unfairly tarnished by the current wave of allegations, and a sceptical public has little sympathy for them. The spin-doctor era, and the enormous amounts of money spent on them, has had the opposite results for Government and Opposition in so far as the popularity charts are concerned. The distrust rate of politicians, sadly, was never as high. There are no winners in Dail Eireann at this sad time for democracy and integrity. - Yours, etc.,
Old Road, Cashel, Co Tipperary.