Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I am interested in the distinction between the different types of amendment that have been offered from different parts of the House. Listening to Senator Cullinane, I find myself in agreement with a lot of what he is saying. As a former student union official, I wondered as I was listening to the Senator whether it was appropriate that we create an exception for donations provided to a political party organised at college, for example. It is often the case in colleges that funding is made available to clubs and societies for the purpose of allowing them to carry out their activities, which is a good thing, and it seems that political parties starting up in colleges should not be excluded from that. That said, political parties in third level colleges are a bit like banks - it is all about catching people early so they can have them for life. With that in mind, perhaps the culture of resistance to corporate donations should also be inculcated; people could be introduced to that allergy to corporate donations from an early age. I am sure it has never happened that a member of the Sinn Féin cumann got elected to the presidency of the student union and there were any donations to the Sinn Féin society concerned. I could say the same for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. One would not like to think a student union would show preferential treatment to any political party on campus. On balance, I accept what Senator Cullinane is saying. That exclusion should be made. However, in every other respect I like what I am hearing from Senator Mac Conghail.

I would like to address a point made by Senator Mac Conghail and, to some extent, by the Minister. If it is the case that the Minister intends to make some kind of constitutional argument against an outright ban on corporate donations, I look forward to hearing it. It seems to me that once one goes down the road of restricting the amount of money that either private or corporate donors can give, one is already interfering in whatever kind of freedom that the Constitution might claim to protect. I would look with a sceptical eye at constitutional arguments against an outright ban of corporate donations, but I approach the issue with an open mind.

The Minister does not rate my skills at the Ballinasloe horse fair, but what I am proposing here is that we reduce the permitted amount of corporate donations to €100, and that in any situation in which more than €1 is given, the corporate donor must register as the Bill provides. What I am trying to do is to create a situation in which corporate donations are not banned, but it becomes extremely onerous to either give or receive them. If it is the case that the main plank of the Minister's argument against what Senators Cullinane and Mac Conghail are proposing is a constitutional argument, he will have to find some other grounds on which to disagree with my proposal, because I am proposing that we legislate corporate donations out of existence by reducing the permitted amount to an insignificant sum and that we impose onerous requirements on corporate donors from the get-go. I do not think the village shopkeeper has anything to worry about if he or she is a sole trader; I am sure that will count as a personal donation. The principle is that we should allow maximum freedom to individuals who are willing to take the personal hit to contribute from their own resources - I do not care whether they are rich or poor - to politicians or parties. That can be a good thing, provided there is full transparency. However, we certainly need to close down corporate donations. That is where the potential for corruption really arises.

With regard to Senator Mac Conghail's proposal - he may speak again on this - is he suggesting that if his amendments are accepted, the six individual persons whose companies donated would retain their freedom to make individual personal donations? I presume this is the case. That is something with which I would agree. As long as people are seen to donate, the requirement for transparency is achieved and we can minimise corruption.