Political funding in Ireland#Public funding

Under the Electoral Act 1997, a registered party is eligible for payments from the Central Fund in proportion to the percentage of total first-preference votes its candidates received at the previous general election.{{cite web |title=Electoral Act 1997 |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1997/act/25/enacted/en/print#partiii |website=electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB) |access-date=13 February 2020 |page=Part III |no-pp=y |language=en}} This is subject to a minimum threshold of two percent of the total first-preference votes. There was criticism of this after the 2019 Irish local elections when Renua received €250,000 despite losing its last remaining elected representatives.{{cite news |last1=Leogue |first1=Joe |title=Renua will continue to collect €250k despite having no elected representatives |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/renua-will-continue-to-collect-250k-despite-having-no-elected-representatives-930147.html |access-date=13 February 2020 |work=Irish Examiner |date=11 June 2019 |language=en}} Small parties on the brink of the threshold have also exhorted supporters to turn out even in constituencies where their local candidate has no chance of winning a seat.{{cite news |last1=Augustenborg |first1=Cara |title=This election is make or break for the Green Party |url=https://www.independent.ie/opinion/this-election-is-make-or-break-for-the-green-party-34467794.html |access-date=13 February 2020 |work=Irish Independent |date=19 February 2016 |language=en}}; {{cite news |last1=Conroy |first1=Ben |title=Vote Aontú and keep pro-life politics alive |url=https://www.irishcatholic.com/vote-aontu-and-keep-pro-life-politics-alive/ |access-date=13 February 2020 |work=The Irish Catholic |date=23 January 2020}}

Details about the sources of political funds prior to 2012 were rather scarce. Based on the information published for 1998 Murphy and Farrell contend that Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin were the parties which received the highest amounts of private funding. Fianna Fáil reported €432,501 and Sinn Féin total donations of €230,000. Whereas the bulk of the former funds were contributed by the business sector (e.g. hoteliers, builders etc.), most of the latter came from U.S. donors (friends of Sinn Féin). The Labour Party was heavily reliant on contributions by the trade unions.Murphy, Ronan J. and Farrell, David M.: 'Party Politics in Ireland: Regularizing a Volatile System', in: Paul Webb, David Farrell and Ian Holliday (eds.): Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 230-31.

Ireland provides free broadcasting time for all parties which nominated a minimum number of candidates. The allocation formula seeks to give fair opportunities to all parties, taking into account the number of candidates presented and the share of votes polled in the previous election.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140419110740/http://www.idea.int/political-finance/country.cfm?id=102 Questions 20, 24.] Because 'Irish politicians cannot buy time on the broadcast media',McMenamin, Iain: Business Financing of Politics in Ireland - Theory, Evidence and Reform, Working Papers in International Studies No. 12/2011, p. 9. independent candidates are granted by law 'some coverage in the news'. In addition, there is a subsidy for current party operations.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140419110740/http://www.idea.int/political-finance/country.cfm?id=102 Question 19.] In a per capita comparison of six countries it has turned out that Ireland is the most generous provider of public support to its parties.{{Cite web |url=http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf |title=p. 271. |access-date=2014-11-04 |archive-date=2014-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026120842/http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf |url-status=dead }}

A recent study of general political spending levels has found (on a per capita basis) that Ireland was almost in line with Canada, slightly ahead of the United States and much more so of Australia and the United Kingdom. Quite in line with developments in other established democracies, Irish party headquarters have stepped up their routine activities and shifted their budgets accordingly,Nassmacher, Karl-Heinz: The Funding of Party Competition. Political Finance in 25 Democracies, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2009, pp.77-78, 80-82. Salaries, wages and benefits comprise about one-third of party headquarters' annual spending.{{Cite web |url=http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf |title=p. 275. |access-date=2014-11-04 |archive-date=2014-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026120842/http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Limits to how much a candidate in an election may spend on their campaign were reintroduced by the 1997 act, having been abolished by the Electoral Act 1963.{{cite web |last1=Doyle |first1=Avril |title = Private Business. - Funding of Political Parties and Candidates: Motion |url = https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1992-07-08/10/#para_532 |website=Seanad Éireann (19th Seanad) debates |publisher = Houses of the Oireachtas |access-date=4 December 2019 |language=en-ie |date=8 July 1992 }} In Dáil, European, and Presidential elections, a lower limit is reimbursed from public funds provided the candidate reaches a minimum share of the vote, defined as one-quarter of the single transferable vote quota. This reimbursement was introduced by the 1997 act and in 2001 replaced the previous system of requiring a deposit paid in advance by a candidate, reimbursed if the candidate reached one-quarter of a quota. The deposit provision was struck out in 2001 as unconstitutionally discriminating against poorer would-be candidates.{{cite bailii |litigants=Redmond v Minister for the Environment |parallelcite=[2001] 4 I.R. 61 |year=2001 |court=IEHC |num=128 }}; {{cite web |title=Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage |url = https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2002-03-21/21/ |website = Dáil Éireann (28th Dáil) debates |publisher=Oireachtas |access-date=4 December 2019 |language=en-ie |date=21 March 2002 }} The quota limit is applied to the candidate's votes including transfers rather than first-preference votes alone; therefore, a candidate whose vote total is too low for them to be elected will nevertheless not be eliminated as long as there uncertainty over whether they would reach the expenses threshold.{{cite news |last1=Reidy |first1=Theresa |title=Surpluses and tallies: This is the dummy's guide to an election count |url = https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/elections-2019/surpluses-and-tallies-this-is-the-dummys-guide-to-an-election-count-38136738.html |access-date=4 December 2019 |website = Independent.ie |date=25 May 2019 |language=en |quote = Counting of votes is also operated to help candidates and the rules are designed where possible to [aid] candidates getting back their election deposits and being eligible to be reimbursed for their election expenses.}} The basic rules apply to independent politicians running in a single election; there are extra rules for pooling of expenses between candidates of the same party, or where a single candidate runs simultaneously in multiple elections.

There is a ban on foreign donations.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140419110740/http://www.idea.int/political-finance/country.cfm?id=102 Questions 1, 2.] The legal maximum for anonymous donations is set at €100,[https://web.archive.org/web/20140419110740/http://www.idea.int/political-finance/country.cfm?id=102 Questions 9, 10.] rather low when compared to other countries. The annual maximum for all donors is €6,350 per party and €2,540 per parliamentary candidate.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140419110740/http://www.idea.int/political-finance/country.cfm?id=102 Question 14, 18.]

A late start among political finance reformers has enabled Ireland to link public subsidies for party activity with financial incentives to generally encourage gender equality within the parties. This will be achieved by a legal prescription that parties will face a 50 per cent cut of their public subsidy unless at least 30 per cent of all candidates are women and at least 30 per cent are men.Subsection (4B)(a) of section 17 of the Electoral Act of 1997 as inserted by no. 42 of the Electoral (Amendment)(Political Funding) Act 2012. Moreover, Irish parties must apply some part of their subsidy to a variety of specified purposes, among them promoting youth and female political participation.GRECO Evaluation Report on Ireland, Transparency of Party Funding (Theme II), 2009, p. 8. Since no further clarification is provided, this may simply refer to the operation of separate women's and youth groups, which is a traditional feature of many parties. The financial reports filed by the three major parties for 2011 show that Fianna Fáil spent €7,50 for the purpose, but Fine Gael no more than €152. The Labour Party seems to differ considerably, because it spent €61,107 to promote female participation (although almost three-quarters of this total was spent on 'salaries and pensions').See http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Reports/Annual/Disclosure{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}; the whole paragraph is taken from: http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026120842/http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf |date=2014-10-26 }}, pp. 272-3, 296.

The Standards in Public Office Commission has jurisdiction over party and candidate financing. International IDEA conveys the impression that hitherto it has displayed respectful neglect of all "big fish" donations, which tend to go unreported.{{Cite web |url=http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf |title=pp. 277, 280. |access-date=2014-11-04 |archive-date=2014-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026120842/http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf |url-status=dead }} Without presenting evidence for its deviating view, the GRECO report on Ireland assigns a much more positive evaluation to 'the proactive advisory role played by the Standards Commission to promote transparency of party funding'.GRECO report 2009, p. 25.

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• Farrell, David M.: 'Ireland', in: Party Organizations. A Data Handbook on Party Organizations in Western Democracies, 1960-90, London et al.: Sage Publications, 1992, pp. 389–457.
• Farrell, David M.: 'Ireland: Centralization, Professionalization and Competitive Pressures', in: Katz, Richard S./ Mair, Peter (eds.): How Partiers Organize. Change and Adaptation in Party Organizations in Western Democracies, London et al.: Sage Publications, 1994, pp. 216–241.
• McMenamin, Iain: Business Financing of Politics in Ireland - Theory, Evidence and Reform, Working Papers in International Studies No. 12/2011. Centre for International Studies, Dublin City University.
• Murphy, Ronan J. and Farrell, David M.: 'Party Politics in Ireland: Regularizing a Volatile System', in: Paul Webb, David Farrell and Ian Holliday (eds.): Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 217–47.
• O'Dowd, John: 'Ireland', in: Grant, Thomas D. (ed.): Lobbying, Government Relations and Campaign Finance. Navigating the Laws, Regulations and Practices if National Regimes, Oxford: Oceana Publications, 2005, pp. 201–260.

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154801/http://www.idea.int/parties/finance/db/country_print.cfm?CountryCode=IE 2003 Political Party Finance Database] – International IDEA, Strömsborg, Sweden
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140419110740/http://www.idea.int/political-finance/country.cfm?id=102 2012 Political Party Finance Database] – International IDEA, Strömsborg, Sweden
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20141026120842/http://www.idea.int/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns/upload/foppec-p8.pdf]
• http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Reports/Annual-Reports/

{{Political finance}}

Ireland

Category:Politics of the Republic of Ireland