It is time to toughen the law making political parties declare financial donations, argues Elaine Byrne.
The latest Standards in Public Office report calls for a new approach and greater scrutiny with regard to the funding of political parties and party expenditure. An examination of the disclosed donations to political parties for 2006, as published in the report, clearly demonstrates the ineffectiveness of the current disclosure system.
These donations are distinct from disclosed donations to TDs, Senators and MEPs which were published last April and warrant separate, more detailed analysis.
Section 24 of the Electoral Act 1997 requires political parties to furnish the Standards Commission with an annual statement of donations they have received. A political party must disclose donations over €5,079 and is prohibited from accepting donations totalling €6,349 over one year by the same donor.
Fianna Fáil has declared a nil return in donations, their first year to do so. Fine Gael also declared a nil return and has done so since 2001. The PDs have declared a nil return since 2003. Labour produced nil returns in 2004 and 2005. The Standards Commission noted in yesterday's report that "in the light of this pattern of disclosure, the legislation governing donations to political parties requires urgent review."
Labour, the Greens, Sinn Féin and the Socialist Party are the only parties to disclose donations. However the term donation is misleading. Apart from two donations to Labour and one to the Socialist Party, the €140,753 "donated" to these parties is in effect monthly or annual subscriptions from the salaries of their elected representatives. In Sinn Féin's case, these subscriptions are also from their Northern elected representatives.
Excluding these subscriptions, the donations disclosed by political parties amount to just €17,000, the lowest donated to political parties since the introduction of the disclosure system in 1998.This is nothing short of astonishing.
Excluding subscriptions, neither Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the PDs, the Green Party nor Sinn Féin received a donation in excess of €5,079 in 2006. This is all the more extraordinary given that this was the case in the year preceding a general election. This is particularly noteworthy given that the 2007 election was anticipated to be one of the most expensive ever undertaken.
When compared with the disclosed donations of 2001, also a year preceding a general election, this is all the more remarkable. In 2001 FF disclosed €194,615; FG Nil; Labour €101,442; PDs €137,132; SF €25,395, plus US$295,740 (€314,082), and Aus$48,950 (€29,107); Greens €22,810 and the Socialist Party €37,077. In all, a total of €861,660 was disclosed in 2001. As the illustration demonstrates, this was the highest amount of donations ever disclosed since the introduction of the disclosure system and some seven times that of 2006.
The 2001 figure may be understood from the context of the anticipated introduction of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2001 which subsequently placed a cap of €6,349 on donations that could be accepted by a political party and, moreover, prohibited the acceptance of foreign donations. These legislative amendments do not account however for the current low rate of disclosure.
Excluding subscriptions, political parties disclosed €753,523 in 2001. Excluding subscriptions, political parties disclosed €17,000 in 2006.
Does the fact that little to no donations were disclosed consequently imply that no donations were received? Given that the price tag of a general election has significantly increased, a reasonable assumption exists that there is a need for more, not less, donations.
As the commission's 2006 donations register demonstrates, donations disclosed by individual TDs, Senators and MEPs now attract more donations than political parties, at €131,923.67.
Those who donate to political parties donate below the disclosure limit, thus avoiding publication of their name and the amount donated. This preserves their anonymity and avoids hostile attention. Protecting peoples' anonymity is one thing; not having to declare how much a party receives is another.
Indeed, the Standards Commission has pointed out that "it is not known how the political parties funded their 2007 general election campaigns, and that parties are soliciting donations below the disclosure threshold".
For instance, in February of this year the PDs sent a fundraising letter to 400 potential donors, suggesting a contribution of €5,000 which was "below the declarable limit" and "will not be the subject of any disclosure, either voluntary or statutory".
An unfair assumption has arisen that all donations are an attempt to seek undue influence. The case of annual draws is a case in point. For example, since 2004 Fine Gael has raised approximately €1 million to €1.3 million per year from selling €80 tickets. FF and Labour also run Christmas draws (Irish Examiner 30/12/05).
The pattern of disclosure since 1998 has been to disclose less. There is nothing to suggest that political parties and donors are not complying with their legislative obligations. However, provisions to account for the total annual finances of political parties as called for by the Standards Commission, would fulfil expectations, rather than just obligations. Such estimates would incorporate exchequer funding, donations above and below the disclosure limit, membership fees, national draws and other sources of fund-raising.
As Elvis Costello famously sang, "Everybody is going through the motions, Are you really only going through the motions?"
Dr Elaine Byrne works with the UN anti-corruption unit. She recently completed her doctorate on the history of Irish political corruption at the University of Limerick