Fianna Fáil Clare TD Cathal Crowe was forced to hand back €800 of a €1,000 donation because it exceeded the maximum amount that can be given in cash.
The disclosure is contained in a release on political donations from the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO), published on Monday.
It shows that political donations declined steeply in 2021, when compared to the previous year, which was an election year.
Only four Oireachtas members received donations above the threshold for which they had to declare them, including Mr Crowe.
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Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, who was elected to the Dáil from the Seanad in the Dublin Bay South byelection, received a donation of €1,000 from an individual. Fianna Fáil senators Lorraine Clifford Lee and Shane Cassels both received donations of €800 and €1,000. All three donations were by cheque.
A separate disclosure by the former Sitpu general president and Labour Party chairman Jack O’Connor shows he gave Ms Bacik a donation of €500.
Ms Clifford Lee’s donation came from the party’s headquarters, and Mr Cassells’ from his local Fianna Fáil selection organisation in Meath West.
Ms Bacik and the Fianna Fáil senators were obliged to disclose the donations but were able to keep them as they were not made in cash, whereas Mr Crowe was given €1,000 in cash by an individual donor. The limit acceptable for cash donations is €200, so he was forced to hand the remainder back.
Politicians must disclose donations of more than €600 from an individual in a given year, and corporate donations are capped at €200 before they in turn become disclosable. If a corporate donor wants to give more than €200 to a TD, senator or MEP, it must register with the commission. This includes political parties.
In total, donations with a value of €3,800 were disclosed by Oireachtas members or Members of the European Parliament (MEP), of which €3,000 was permitted. This is down from a total permitted amount of €64,875 in 2020, the higher figure being accounted for by the general election.
In addition to former trade union chief Mr O’Connor’s donation to Ms Bacik, he also gave €1,250 to the Labour Party, and €750 and €120 to the Kildare South and Newbridge branches of the party. Sitpu gave €950 to Declan Bree, an Independent councillor on Sligo County Council, a former TD for Labour.
