Source: http://m.sipo.gov.ie/en/Reports/Annual-Disclosures/Disclosure-by-Political-Parties/2006-Donation-Statements/
Timestamp: 2019-02-16 17:10:27
Document Index: 3245768

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 3', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 6', 'art 7', 'art 8', 'arty\n5', 'arty\n6', 'arty\n6', 'arty 7']

2006 Donation Statements - Standards in Public Office Commission
Donation Statements furnished by political parties for 2006
I am pleased to furnish this report to the Ceann Comhairle in accordance with section 4(1) of the Electoral Act 1997 (the Act). The report relates to annual Donation Statements/Statutory Declarations, in respect of 2006, furnished to the Standards in Public Office Commission (the Standards Commission) by political parties pursuant to section 24 of the Act.
This report relates to Donation Statements/Statutory Declarations, in respect of 2006, furnished to the Standards Commission by political parties pursuant to section 24(1)(a) of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended.
It is noteworthy that neither Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, nor the Progressive Democrats reported any disclosable donations for 2006, a year preceding a long-awaited general election year. This was the first year in which Fianna Fáil produced such a nil return; Fine Gael has produced a nil return since 2001; the Labour Party did so in 2004 and 2005 while the Progressive Democrats have produced a nil return since 2003. It is the view of the Standards Commission that, in the light of this pattern of disclosure, the legislation governing donations to political parties requires urgent review.
In the calendar year prior to the 2002 General Election, donations disclosed by the parties amounted to almost seven times the 2006 figure. While it is true that exchequer funding of political parties has increased hugely since 2001 - over €13.5 million was spent in 2006 - this exchequer funding cannot be used for election purposes.
It is not known, therefore, how the parties financed their election campaigns in 2007, nor are the parties obliged to disclose the source of this funding. It is clear to the Standards Commission that parties are soliciting donations below the disclosure threshold. Monitoring of expenditure on election campaigns is also limited to expenditure on resources or material used during the election period - which runs from the date of dissolution of Dáil Éireann to polling day.
The Standards Commission believes that there is a strong case to be made for a new approach to the general funding of political parties, for increased transparency in such funding and for greater scrutiny of political party expenditure. In 2003 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a recommendation (Rec (2003) 4) on common rules against corruption in the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns. As part of this, the Council approved a set of common rules which it recommended that member states should adopt in their national legal systems. While many of the rules are already provided for in our law, those which need to be implemented include recommendations that member states should require political parties to keep proper books and accounts, that these accounts should specify all donations received by a political party and identification of donors in the case of donations over a certain value and that party accounts must be presented at least annually to an independent authority.
In accordance with section 24(1)(b) of the Act, the Standards Commission produced a Donation Statement/Statutory Declaration form (06/PP/DS) for use in respect of the 2006 calendar year. A copy of the form was sent to the appropriate officer of each of the thirteen registered political parties on 8 March 2007 for return by the statutory deadline of 31 March 2007.
A Donation Statement/Statutory Declaration form was received from 6 of the 13 registered political parties by the statutory deadline of 31 March 2006. It was necessary to issue reminders to the appropriate officers of the Labour Party, the South Kerry Independent Alliance, the Socialist Workers Party, the Workers Party and the Communist Party. The Donation Statements were subsequently received from the Labour Party on 16 April 2007, the South Kerry Independent Alliance on 16 April 2007, the Socialist Workers Party on 19 April 2007, the Workers Party on 27 April 2007 and the Communist Party on 13 June 2007 .
It is an offence for the appropriate officer of a political party to fail to return the party's Donation Statement by the statutory deadline. Although the appropriate officers of the Labour Party, the South Kerry Independent Alliance, the Socialist Workers Party, the Workers Party and the Communist Party failed to comply with the Act by submitting their Donation Statement after the statutory deadline, the Standards Commission decided not to refer these matters to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Part 3 - Prohibited Donations
Part 4 - Loans to political parties
During 2006 the Standards Commission received a number of enquiries concerning loans to political parties. These enquiries had been prompted by revelations that certain political parties in the UK had received significant loans in the run-up to the 2005 general election. The Standards Commission considered it appropriate to write to political parties setting out the position under which loans provided to political parties, either by financial institutions or by individuals or bodies which are not financial institutions, might be regarded as donations under the Electoral Acts.
A donation is defined in the Electoral Acts as a contribution for political purposes and includes a contribution of money and the free or below cost provision of goods, property or services. Where a loan is provided to a political party by a financial institution and the normal rules attaching to such loans apply, the loan is not regarded as a donation to the party. However, where a loan is provided to a political party by a financial institution in circumstances where either the interest charged is less than the lowest rate available from the financial institution or the loan is not repaid in accordance with the terms and conditions under which the loan was issued or is only partially repaid, the benefit to the party may be regarded as a donation and may, therefore, be subject to the disclosure and maximum limits applying to the acceptance of donations.
Where an individual or body, who or which is not a financial institution, gives a loan to a political party, it must be evident that the loan offered is a bona fide loan. In that regard the following conditions would apply:
as with a loan from a financial institution, the terms and conditions applying to the loan and its repayment must be stated clearly in writing;
interest is chargeable on the loan at a rate (whether fixed or variable) which reflects the interest charged by financial institutions on loans of a similar amount and duration. Where the interest charged is less than the lowest rate available from a financial institution, the benefit accruing from the difference in rates is regarded as a donation to the party.
the Standards Commission may require sight of the terms and conditions, including the interest charge, applying to the loan and may require confirmation that the loan has been repaid in accordance with these terms and conditions;
if the loan is not repaid in accordance with the terms and conditions, or is only partly repaid, the benefit of such non-repayment may be regarded as a donation to the party and could be subject to the disclosure and maximum acceptance limits applying.
The Standards Commission also requested the appropriate officer of each political party to:
i) confirm that any loans provided to the party by a financial institution since the commencement date of the Electoral Acts (15 May 1997) had been subject to the terms and conditions which are normally imposed by the financial institution and that the provision of such loans did not constitute a donation to the party;
ii) provide details of any loans provided to the party since the commencement date of the Electoral Acts by individuals or bodies which were not financial institutions.
In relation to loans from financial institutions, all of the political parties confirmed either that they did not receive any such loans or that any such loans received by them were subject to the normal terms and conditions applied by the financial institution and did not constitute a political donation. All of the political parties stated that they did not receive a loan from an individual or body, who or which is not a financial institution
Part 5 - Political donations account
The Donation Statement/Statutory Declaration must also be accompanied by a Certificate of Monetary Donations on which the appropriate officer confirms that all monetary donations received during the year were lodged to the account and that all amounts debited from the account were used for political purposes. The Certificate is accompanied by a separate Statutory Declaration. The Standards Commission produced a Certificate of Monetary Donations / Statutory Declaration form (06/PP/CMD) for use in respect of the 2006 calendar year. The form was enclosed with the Donation Statement/Statutory Declaration form which issued to appropriate officers of political parties on 8 March 2007.
The Standards Commission was conscious of the fact that the political donations accounts of some of the smaller political parties might not have been active during 2006. Accordingly, a political party whose political donations account was not active during 2006 was required only to state this on the Certificate of Monetary Donations/Statutory Declaration form and was not required to complete the Statutory Declaration or to forward a copy of a bank statement for 2006.
A Certificate of Monetary Donations/Statutory Declaration form was received from 12 of the 13 political parties. A form was not received from The Workers Party. On the basis that a Certificate of Monetary Donations form has never been received from this party (either from its Head Office or from an accounting unit - see Part 6 below), the Standards Commission assumes that The Workers Party has not received a monetary donation exceeding €126.97 in value since the commencement, on 1 January 2002, of these provisions of the legislation.
The Standards Commission writes to the appropriate officers of each political party annually requesting details of the party's accounting units. Table 6 gives details of the number of accounting units which were notified to the Standards Commission for 2006.
On 9 February 2007 the Standards Commission wrote to the responsible person of each of the 166 accounting units, notified to it, enclosing a Certificate of Monetary Donations/Statutory Declaration form. A separate form - Form 2 - was also enclosed. An accounting unit whose political donations account was not active during 2006 was required only to complete Form 2 and was not required to complete the Statutory Declaration or to forward a copy of a bank statement for 2006.
To date, 126 of these accounting units have furnished a return to the Standards Commission. The Standards Commission is pursuing those accounting units which have not replied.
The Standards Commission has continued to experience difficulties in supervising this part of the legislation. It is aware that some of these difficulties can contribute to the failure by accounting units to furnish the required documentation by the statutory deadline. Some of the difficulties encountered by the Standards Commission were set out in a report to the Ceann Comhairle in December 2003 on compliance by accounting units with the requirements of the legislation during 2002. The Standards Commission will also be referring to this matter in its annual report for 2006.
Part 7 - Laying of material before the Houses of the Oireachtas
Part 8 - Public inspection of statutory documentation
The Donation Statements/Statutory Declarations furnished to the Standards Commission are available for inspection and copying at the offices of the Standards Commission at 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2. The information contained in the documents is also available, in summary form, on the website of the Standards Commission.
Tables detailing donations disclosed by political parties for 2006
Table 1 - Disclosure of donations received by political parties in 2006
Labour Party Mr. Mike Allen 11,100
Sinn Féin Mr. Desmond Mackin 87,233.80
Socialist Party Mr. Michael Murphy 11,819.55
Total 140,753.35
Table 2 - List of donations disclosed by Sinn Féin
5,500 Standing Order Caoimhghín Ó'Caoláin T.D. Leinster House
6,000 Cheque Martin Ferris TD Leinster House
6,000 Bank Transfer Mary Lou Mc Donald M.E.P. 44 Parnell Square
5,745.50 Cheque Sue Ramsay Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,745.50 Cheque Philip McGuigan Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,780.35 Cheque Conor Murphy Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,780.35 Cheque Fra McCann Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,780.35 Cheque Raymond McCartney Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,780.35 Cheque Francie Brolly Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,780.35 Cheque Caitriona Ruane Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,780.35 Cheque Barry McElduff Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,780.35 Cheque Tom O'Reilly Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
5,780.35 Cheque Willie Clarke Individual Administrative Office, Room 266, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
Table 3 - List of donations disclosed by the Green Party
5,100 Standing Order/Cheque John Gormley T.D Dáil Éireann
Table 4 - List of donations disclosed by the Labour Party
6,000 Cheque Thomas Byrne Company Solicitors 78 Walkinstown Road, Walkinstown, Dublin 12.
5,100 Cheque Con Pendred Company Derrynan House,
77 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 1.
Table 5 - List of donations disclosed by the Socialist Party
6,000 Bank Draft Colm Halpin Individual 10 St. Mary's Court East Wall Dublin 3
Table 6 - Returns furnished by Accounting Units for 2006
Number of Accounting Units notified by the party's appropriate officer Number of Accounting Units who furnished a return by 31 March 2007 Number of Accounting Units who have yet to furnish a return
Fianna Fáil 65 26 21
Fine Gael 25 7 10
Labour 27 16 2
Sinn Féin 15 11 2
Progressive Democrats 27 13 5
Green Party 7 6 0
Total 166 79 40
*Between 31 March and the publication date of the report a further 47 accounting units furnished a return to the Standards Commission