Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The Private Members' Bill brought forward by Fianna Fáil would not have included all corporate bodies. There were loopholes to allow certain corporate bodies to continue to give donations without being subject to the new restrictions. There were flaws in the Bill. We got advice from the Attorney General on the constitutionality of corporate donations. We wished to proceed immediately to restrict corporate donations and if there was any doubt about the constitutionality of what we intended to do, the Government decided to examine it in the context of the constitutional convention which will be established shortly. That convention will report in a year and there will be an opportunity to put that forward in the context of constitutional change in 2012. However, we are proceeding immediately with the legal advice we received from the Attorney General. What we are trying to do is welcomed by Fianna Fáil and I am delighted the party has been converted to this policy.

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