Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Bill. At a time when the profession of politics has been besmirched by the corrupt and greedy actions of the few, it is imperative that the House moves immediately to restore confidence in the political system. Dealing with the issue of political donations is but a small step, albeit an important one, in restoring this confidence. During the past 14 years, Sinn Féin has called for legislation on corporate donations. During these 14 years, the previous Administration led by Fianna Fáil failed to respond in a positive way to those calls.

In some ways this should not come as a surprise. For the last 14 years Fianna Fáil was the party with its hand on the wheel of power, its ability to court large businesses was unrivalled and its lack of morals to do so was never in question. The Galway tent did a roaring trade, the whip arounds in Manchester were fruitful and the golf classics were plentiful.

How times have changed. After being run out of office by the people, Fianna Fáil went into a period of reflection and like St. Paul on the road to Damascus, the party has had a revelation. Of course, the fact Fianna Fáil is no longer in power and its ability to attract and court big business having diminished has more to do with this recent conversion to the Sinn Féin way of thinking on corporate donations than any sense of redemption. There will be people at home laughing to themselves at the idea of Fianna Fáil tabling this legislation when they consider the previous leaders of the party, such as Bertie Ahern and Charles Haughey. We all know what happened on their watch and the allegations of payments, mysterious amounts of sterling won on the horses and briefcases full of cash. How many of the Fianna Fáil Deputies proposing this legislation tonight knew of those goings-on and what did they do while they were Fianna Fáil members in that period? From where I am standing, they have no sense of the meaning of the word hypocrisy.

Bertie Ahern presided over a decade of Government, a Government in which the current leader of Fianna Fáil was a senior member, which saw a deepening inequality in our society and the squandering of our economic prosperity. Now Fianna Fáil has the brass neck to preach to us about credibility in politics. One has to ask why Fianna Fáil even picked this issue to debate when we consider that recent reports from the Standards in Public Office Commission repeatedly tell us the party received no donations.

According to these reports Fianna Fáil is not alone in this respect. The 2005 SIPO annual report stated that Fine Gael and the now defunct Progressive Democrats received no donations whatsoever in the course of the previous two years and that the Labour Party did not receive any donations in that year either. The 2006 SIPO annual report states that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael received no donations that year. Are we seriously expected to believe that the Christian Solidarity Party received more in political donations than Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael put together in 2006? It is preposterous and everyone listening to this debate will be chuckling at the idea.

Even more recent SIPO annual reports, such as the 2009 report, state that neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael received any donations over the limit set for disclosure. As a party, Sinn Féin has consistently been the only party to make accounts fully available to the public. We have nothing to hide in regard to where we receive our funding and how we spend it, despite accusation thrown across the House about how we raise funds for political campaigns. The challenge I set other parties in this Chamber is to do the same and not hide behind legislation that allows political parties to hide significant donations from the public.

Political parties should be obliged to publish annual financial statements. The failure to do so in the past has led to international observers viewing Ireland as suffering from high levels of what is termed "legal corruption". Previous reports from Transparency International were correct in its assertions that patronage and personal relationships have influenced political decisions and policy in Ireland. This has been to the detriment not only to Ireland's international reputation but also at a cost to Irish society.

This scourge on Irish politics and society as a whole is underpinned by Fianna Fáil's 1980s golden circle culture. Under Fianna Fáil, the last Government undermined our economy, fattened the bank accounts of big bankers and greedy developers and left critical public services such as education, transport and health under-funded and in disarray. We hear that every day in this House from the Government that has now taken the reins of power. The current Government, however, was no different when it came to developers, bankers and fattened bank accounts. We know this only too well from previous tribunal reports.

In the Six Counties, political parties are required under law to provide a full income and expenditure annual financial statement to the Electoral Commission. Sinn Féin commends this requirement and believes a similar practice should be in place in this State. Like all organisations a political party needs an income in order to cover its expenditures. The public understands that raising funds and donations are part and parcel of generating that income. Public doubt starts to creep in when political parties are not open and transparent about their financial affairs.

The issue of donations to political parties is part of a broader issue of corruption that has been endemic in Irish political life. The recent Moriarty tribunal was a stark reminder of the cosy relationship between political parties and big business. There are still unanswered questions about the Lowry affair. Why was that debacle let happen in the first place? How can we create a system where this cannot happen again? How can we create a system that will not let big business influence political decisions?

Deputy Martin has already quoted the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, who in 2001 said:

All over the world, it is recognised that financial support from business to politicians is perceived by the public to have one purpose [namely] the securing of commercial advantage. Claims that such donations are made from disinterested motives are simply not believed. As the lurid tribunal scandals play out before our eyes, one thing is clear. We cannot restore politics until the perceived link between political contributions and public policy is broken.

It is rare that I will agree with anything that the Minister for Finance has to say but he was correct on that point.

In 1997, the massive level of corporate donations to political parties emerged when a box of files that contained information on donors was, supposedly inadvertently, thrown in a skip outside the now defunct Progressive Democrats' head office during a spring clean. After the publication of the contents of that box of files by a Sunday newspaper, we got an insight into the level of political donations from big business to political parties and those of which the Progressive Democrats were in receipt. It is a pity that the cleaners in the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil head offices were not as enthusiastic in their cleaning efforts. It is one box of files l would like to see.

In the last general election campaign, buzz words were bandied about like confetti such as job creation, change and political reform. This came from all sides, including the current Government parties. The time for buzz words has passed and the time for legislation has arrived. The citizens of this State need to be assured that the State's decision-making process is transparent, structured and disciplined. Anything less is not good enough. These structures need to inspire confidence. We need to restore confidence in our political system because if not, all of us fail. Members of all parties on all sides of the House will be tarred with the same brush so it is incumbent on all of us to work together to bring about the changes required to inspire confidence in the political system again.

I welcome the comments by the Taoiseach during the recent debate on the Moriarty tribunal report when he said this Government will move to ban corporate donations. I welcome this Fianna Fáil Private Members' Bill as a step in the right direction. However, it is very difficult to take it seriously when its author is the Fianna Fáil Party. Nevertheless, the Bill will be debated and considered by the House and we will vote on the motion tomorrow night. Regardless of the outcome of that vote, there is more work to be done. If we do not do the work in this 31st Dáil, then we will all suffer, not only as TDs and political parties but society as a whole. It is incumbent on all Members of the House to get this right.

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