Dr. Elaine Byrne:

It is a combination of those elements. There is a danger that because of the enormous abuses that have happened in the funding of political parties in the past - I mentioned four tribunals that examined this - anybody who donates to a political party is regarded as seeking malign influence. This is wrong and unfair. People support political parties and political individuals because they believe in democracy and democracy does not run on thin air. Money is necessary to fund the salaries of research assistants and so forth. My research shows that when particular sectors have donated in such large amounts to political parties, it suggests they were doing so because they were seeking influence or they felt it was necessary. It is not unusual and occurs in many countries. I referred to beef barons and property barons. In the 1980s, the beef industry was donating to all political parties because beef was the biggest indigenous industry in Ireland at the time.

In the 1990s and 2000s it was property, because property was fuelling the economy. If the same rules and culture were in place now, perhaps it would be multinational and technology companies that would be donating to political parties. Donations often reflect the make-up of the economy. Regarding the donations to Fianna Fáil, the property sector, auctioneers and solicitors were prominent donors, as were banks and the motor industry. They were the industries and sectors of the boom.