Complaints by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) about the way the 1997 Electoral Act on political funding has been emasculated are nothing new. But the Green Party, which campaigned in the election for the abolition of corporate funding, may be in a position to do something. It is a long shot, given Fianna Fáil's visceral response to financial controls. But reform is urgently needed if the integrity and fairness of our political system is to be protected.
The Electoral Act requires parties to detail all donations exceeding €5,079. But neither Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael nor the Progressive Democrats reported a single contribution in the pre-election year of 2006. SIPO secretary David Waddell concluded that the parties had deliberately solicited donations below the disclosure threshold and, as a result, voters could not know how campaigns had been financed. Mr Waddell suggested all political donations be recorded in future, in line with a Council of Europe recommendation. And he proposed that, because parties were now "front-loading" their election campaigns, there should be tighter controls on expenditure.
It may be the last report on election spending from SIPO. The programme for government agreed by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party proposes that an Independent Electoral Commission should take over this duty and examine the issue of political funding. During negotiations, however, it became clear that Fianna Fáil was not prepared to ban corporate donations. And there is no guarantee it will accept recommendations from the new commission. After all, it rejected a proposal by SIPO in 2003 that all pre-election material and activity should be regarded as relevant spending. Instead, only expenditure following the dissolution of the Dáil was counted. The result was an election campaign that ran for months, with millions spent on billboards and advertising.
Research has shown that the money spent by parties has a direct bearing on the number of votes secured. Because of that, it is no surprise that Fianna Fáil wishes to protect its position as the dominant political spender and fundraiser. However, the Courts have ruled on the need for a level playing field, at least in terms of government supports and services during election time. As things stand, State funding is provided in proportion to Dáil representation. That is proper and above board. But the murky issue of corporate and business funding for parties, along with aggressive fundraising by individual ministers and TDs should be strictly regulated. Pre-election spending must also be curbed. Otherwise, we can forget about banishing the spectre of political corruption.