John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this Bill. Fianna Fáil promised this legislation before the last general election and during the general election. Deputy Micheál Martin made the commitment after the election that he would introduce this Bill. I have been a long time in the House and I have heard a great deal of talk about political donations down the years and the reform of this House but nothing ever happened; there was a great deal of hot air.

Tribunals have cost a fortune, making millionaires of legal eagles. The media-fuelled perception of the public representatives is that they were all on the take. Every politician, TD, Senator or councillor, was getting bagfuls of money for favours granted. We heard all the talk about the tents in Galway and Punchestown and the Fine Gael golf classics in the K Club. All of these were highlighted for many years. Like in every organisation, there will always be some rotten apples in the barrel, but 99% of politicians are decent, honourable people who are there to serve the people and do their best for the community. That is what communities want, they want their politicians to be available to help them and to support them. As Deputy Michael Moynihan said, there were plenty of politicians elected at the general election from all shades of the community because the people who voted for them wanted someone who reflects their views and ideals.

I fought the recent general election and received some contributions, which were acknowledged and receipts were issued. They will be sent to the relevant authorities whenever necessary, and I am sure other politicians did the same. That is not to say we were on the take or being bought off. Democracy is an important system and it is important we continue to have a democratic process here. Political parties and individuals who want to represent this country in a democratic fashion should be able to receive contributions provided they are meeting the regulations and acting in a transparent manner.

We hear much talk about reform of the political system. Fine Gael spoke of reducing the number of TDs by 20, although the number suggested has since fallen to 16. By the next general election there will probably be no reduction in TDs because the commission set up to look at the issue will recommend the retention of the status quo.

This House needs a fundamental change, an issue I have raised on several occasions in my political career. In many ways, it is irrelevant to what is happening in the community. I am amused most mornings when people raise matters of urgent national importance with the Ceann Comhairle. They read out a statement and the Ceann Comhairle says that having considered the matter seriously, it is deemed not to be urgent, even though the House could be going down the river. No matter what the issue raised in the Dáil, it is very seldom the Ceann Comhairle will say a matter is urgent and can be debated. That is where we must look at reform.

I fought the election in Wexford, as did Deputy Wallace. I will not speak for Deputy Wallace, who had lovely, shiny pink posters that people must have bought into, because he got 13,500 votes. I was out-postered four to one and I had a fair number of posters.

I was out-vanned, so to speak, four to one and I was out-manoeuvred in every way possible by the other major political parties, yet I stayed within the financial limits for a five seat constituency. This is an area which is wide open to abuse. A candidate could say his or her posters had been erected prior to the calling of the election, even though that is illegal. He or she could say that the flyers were bought before the election. The issue of expenditure at a general election needs to be re-examined. Expenses can be counted properly. I have great faith in the political system, however, and in the public representatives of this country, the majority of whom are not in it to make money or to line their pockets but to represent the people who elected them to Dáil Éireann.

This Private Members' Bill deserves careful consideration. It implements key recommendations of the Moriarty tribunal relating to political funding. It proposes to cut donation limits, introduce an effective ban on corporate donations and provide for an annual audit of all income paid to political parties from public or private sources. The Bill effectively ends corporate donations and dramatically increases the level of transparency in political funding and expenditure. I doubt if the Government will follow through on its commitment but this Bill will afford the opportunity to consider a number of other issues relating to the second report of the Moriarty tribunal. Deputies on all sides of the House, including newly elected Deputies, have had an opportunity to contribute. I noted some excellent contributions, including views on how political funding should be dealt with. I do not think any one party has a monopoly on knowing how to deal with the issue of political donations, but this Bill goes some of the way in dealing with the issue in an open and transparent way.

The public want politicians and political parties to be open about how they are funded. This has not been done in the past. Some political parties have not been open about the amount of funding they receive during a given year, the identity of the donors or how it is spent. This Bill gives parties an opportunity to state exactly where they stand on political donations. Contributions to political parties from individuals should still remain, however, because otherwise the taxpayer will be required to fund the democratic system fully and I do not think taxpayers would wish us to introduce such a measure. All political parties will have to admit they will depend on individual contributions if they are to survive. I hope the Government will support this Bill, although from my experience on both sides of the House, I know this will not happen as the Government will regard its own legislation as better than a Bill introduced by any party in Opposition. The Attorney General will always find some flaws, real or imagined, to stop such legislation. This Bill is worthy of consideration and support and, more important, it has opened up the debate on political donations. I ask all sides of the House to support the Fianna Fáil Bill.

See this speech in context