THE STATE’S ethics watchdog has suggested a review of the transparency of party funding in the light of its findings that only a fraction of the €10 million spent by parties last year was publicly disclosed.
The Standard in Public Office Commission (Sipo) yesterday published its third and final report on political donations received by parties and candidates during 2007. The 14 registered parties spent in excess of €10 million during the three-week general election campaign last year, yet only disclosed €1.3 million or 13 per cent for the entire year.
For the second year in a row, the commission voices concern about this matter, saying that “in terms of transparency, there is a large gap between the amount of disclosable donations and reported expenditure”.
As the €10 million was spent entirely within the three-week election campaign only, the commission notes that the actual gap is even wider, as some parties spent heavily in early 2007 before the campaign got under way.
The commission, which is chaired by Mr Justice Matthew Smith, says that it is obvious that political parties are soliciting donations that are below the disclosure threshold, which is set at €5,078 for a party.
“The commission does not consider that there is anything wrong with this,” states the report.
“However, if the purpose of the [legislation] is to demonstrate transparency in how political parties are funded, and in particular how political parties and their candidates fund election campaigns, then this part of the legislation is not achieving that purpose.” The commission reiterates its recommendation for a new approach to the general funding of party.
The total value of disclosed donations made to the 14 parties for 2007 amounted to only €266,485. The vast bulk of this came related to Sinn Féin, which disclosed €187,648, and from the Green Party, which disclosed €29,750. All but one of the donations for both parties came from contributions from their elected TDs and Senators; and in the case of Sinn Féin, its Northern MLAs and its two MEPs.
Fianna Fáil and Labour disclose only three donations each, amounting to less than €20,000 in both cases. Fianna Fáil spent a total of €3.65 million during the election campaign.
For the seventh year in a row Fine Gael makes a “nil” disclosure. In fact, the last donation declared by the party was for a cheque of £50,000 from businessman Denis O’Brien in 2000. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael separately indicated yesterday that there is no inclination in the parties to change the legislation. Both defended their low and “nil” disclosures.
A senior Fianna Fáil source said that the party goes to great lengths to meet the obligations set down in the ethics and electoral acts. “Most of the donations the party receives are for very small amounts. Our biggest fundraising initiative is the national collection and the national draw where tickets are €50. The number of bigger donations is really quite small. We are completely open about how we fund the party,” said the source.
Fine Gael’s spokesman said it also adhered to the rules and saw little need for change. “Our main fundraiser is the national raffle where we sell in the region of 20,000 ticket at €100.”
The Labour spokesman said that it fully supported the commission’s recommendation on more transparency. “All our income is presented at our national conference. We had total donations of €134,000 from 97 donors. The vast majority were under €1,000,” he said.
The Green Party’s spokesman in government said that Minister for the Environment John Gormley’s plans to set up an electoral commission were well advanced. It would be charged with examining the issue of political funding.
In relation to the controversy surrounding the funding of Libertas, the two main parties denied that they benefit from the same rules of disclosure they complain Libertas benefits from.
