John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I thank the Deputy for tabling this amendment. As he stated, it relates to material published on the Internet and would effectively exempt any material published on the Internet prior to the coming into effect of the spending limit period from being counted as election expenditure. I appreciate the intention behind the amendment, but I do not propose to accept it.

It might be of assistance if I was to clarify what are considered election expenses for the purposes of making a spending declaration at a local election. Section 6(1) of the Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act 1999 defines election expenses as meaning "all expenditure for electoral purposes incurred on the provision of property, goods or services for use at an election". This definition relates to expenditure incurred during the spending period. Under the revised provisions being introduced in section 4, the election period will be set by ministerial order. This period will commence between 50 and 60 days prior to polling day and end on that day.

The Deputy has tabled further amendments on this matter in respect of newspaper advertising. The 1999 Act lists election expenses as those expenses relating to advertising — whatever medium used — publicity, election posters, other election material, office and stationery, transport and travel, market research and campaign workers. Use of the Internet as an advertising medium would currently come within the definition of what are considered election expenses. In its guidance to candidates before the 2007 general election, for example, the Standards in Public Office Commission listed website design as a typical expense reported in returns by candidates under the heading of advertising. Other office related costs associated with the use of the Internet in election campaigning would also count as an expense. These might include, for example, the purchase or rental of office equipment or telephone costs. These are mentioned again the Schedule of the 1999 Act.

If I understand the Deputy correctly, the objective of the amendment is to ensure that material which has long been available on the Internet in advance of the election and continues to be available during the election spending period is not automatically counted as election spending. Obviously, there is some merit in that view but the amendment might allow too much of an exemption. There are some very sophisticated websites putting out archive material and material that, perhaps, has been distributed throughout the constituency. That undoubtedly must count as advertising. It is often difficult to calculate the monetary value of that. I have discussed this with my officials. It is fair to point out that if the website has been constructed and designed before the spending period, that is a normal cost that has been incurred before that period.

What we are discussing here specifically is, for example, a candidate who has significantly revamped his or her website as an election campaign tool in the days before the spending limit period commences and has tried to avoid having that included in his or her spending declaration. That person could publish a wide range of electoral materials for use in active campaigning over the election period and avoid having to declare the expenditure. A similar point could be made about uploaded material for broadcast on the website. The effect of the amendment also would be to create a significant difference in the definition of election expenses for local elections as compared to election expenses for Dáil and other elections. There are difficulties with this and, therefore, I cannot accept the amendment.

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