Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)

I will share time with two other Deputies who will speak tomorrow night.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Fianna Fáil Private Members' Bill. I listened to the contribution from Deputy Martin, the leader of Fianna Fáil. He spoke about this opportunity to walk the walk regarding reform of the system of donations to political parties. Other speakers have alluded to the fact that after 14 years in Government and having lost an election, the Fianna Fáil leader now decides to walk the walk and put forward these proposals. He also stated that this Bill is an opportunity to consign corporate donations to history and to end the culture of corporate donations once and for all but I do not agree. It is obvious that in the past year or two, the level of donations to Fianna Fáil has dried up and this can be seen by the level of debt the party holds in the aftermath of the general election. It is probable that in the same period the level of donations coming into Fine Gael and the Labour Party has gone through the roof and has reached an historical high. It is very interesting to hear the previous speaker quoting from the annual reports of the Standards in Public Office Commission in which, amazingly, even in 2009, neither party managed to declare any donations, when even the dogs in the street knew that money was coming in but they did not feel free to declare any of it.

This Bill is probably a cynical exercise by Fianna Fáil to put forward this amendment to ensure the Government will vote it down tomorrow night and Fianna Fáil will gain a bit of the moral high ground for a day or two before the Government publishes its own proposals.

I listened to the Minister outlining the Fine Gael proposals in the programme for Government which also limit corporate donations. The Minister stated that current legislation prevents what used to happen in the past when large cash donations were given to party members who were able to hide them. The current legislation limits the amount of donations and imposes an obligation to report them. However, the Standards in Public Office Commission report shows it is obvious they are not being reported.

We are all in agreement that ending corporate donations is the way forward. This could be done with a Bill containing a single section declaring that no donation of any kind from an individual, a company, a co-op or a trust, could exceed €100. This would satisfy the requirements once and for all and effectively ban corporate donations. There would be no requirement for a referendum because anyone could donate up to €100 to a political party. No donation higher than this amount could be accepted and this would have the effect of banning corporate donations. Such a Bill would pass without difficulty as all sides of the House would accept it and it would achieve the desired goal of every political party to end corporate donations. There is no need for the Government to go through the rigmarole of detailed legislation because I suggest that a simple amendment to this Bill would achieve one step along the road and it could then proceed with the other changes as outlined in the programme for Government. There would be no need for a constitutional referendum, nor would the constitutional rights of any individual wishing to contribute to the political system be endangered.

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