Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The debate on this Bill is timely. The Government will, in the coming weeks, publish its own legislation to bring about sweeping reforms of political funding arrangements which my predecessors failed to do. The legislation will be based on the general scheme of the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill the Government published in June.

I remind Deputy Martin that it was the Government which placed the issue of political reform on the agenda. We raised these issues during the general election campaign following 14 years in which his party did not do anything about them. We received an electoral mandate on political reform on which we will deliver.

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