Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 4, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

"and

(c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (11):

"(12) Where a political party incurs expenses and payments under this section as amended by the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2009 on a local election to which that Act applies and in particular to which Part IIIA of this Act as inserted by that Act applies, then for the year in which such local election is held and in each year until the following such election, that political party may not accept any donation exceeding €4,000 per year from any one donor and shall declare any donation exceeding €2,500 per year from any one donor.".".

This is a significant amendment. While amendment No. 1 was ruled out of order and questionably ruled outside the scope of the Bill, this amendment is certainly within its scope. The motivation for the amendment came from the Taoiseach's address at his party's recent Ard-Fheis. He spoke about reducing the amounts and disclosure limits for political parties. He said the Government, and I assume he was referring to all parties in the Government, wishes to go further as part of the ongoing reform programme which the Government is undertaking in this area. He said the Government would be proposing a major reduction in both the levels at which donations to national political parties must be disclosed and in the maximum allowable donations. Specifically, he said it would propose the halving of the declaration limit from just over €5,000 per year to €2,500 and the maximum allowable donation would fall from roughly €6,500 per year to €4,000 per year.

The amendment tabled by me and Deputy Tuffy carries out the intention of the Taoiseach's statement that evening. To assist the Minister and to keep the amendment in order, we drafted it to limit it to donations to parties that contest local elections, but that would cover the substance of the Taoiseach's commitment. If the Minister wishes to broaden its coverage to all parties, an instruction to the Dáil in committee could be passed to allow this. However, that is the Minister's prerogative; it is not in the gift of the Opposition.

This suggestion has been made by the Taoiseach and the Labour Party agrees with it. The Taoiseach, when he spoke, gave the impression that he was speaking on behalf of the Government on this matter. The Bill is before the House today and I do not see any other mechanism by which the Taoiseach's intentions can be turned into legislation. The Labour Party has facilitated the Taoiseach and the Government with this amendment and I seek the support of all parties for it.

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