Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. The Bill is timely given that tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the publication of the Moriarty report, and we are told that the Mahon report will be published tomorrow. In that context, it is opportune that we are discussing the funding of political parties.

Political parties are no different from any other organisations in the country in the sense that they all require money to be properly run, including communicating with the public about what we stand for and communicating with our membership in an upfront and transparent manner. I welcome any legislation which sets out to achieve those important goals.

On foot of what was contained in the Moriarty report, my party published legislation during the year which was rejected. The Bill before us contains many of the proposals we had set out, although the Minister's proposals do not go quite as far as we had envisaged. While we can debate that, it remains a fact that political parties require funding. I needs to be said that when people set out to support political parties in a bona fide manner, which is in the public interest, there is nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, however, given the activities of a few people over the years, the concept of donating to political parties has been besmirched. There are many people who like to make small donations, which is their way of helping the political process. It is also their way of being involved in the political process and there is nothing wrong with that. Long may it continue. If people wish to give small amounts, let them do so openly and transparently in an upfront manner so that everyone knows about it. If we had had more of that earlier, the country would not have found itself discussing the fall-out of the Moriarty report, while awaiting the fall-out of the Mahon report.

In his opening remarks, the Minister said that we will have a thorough examination of the matter, which is right. We must have a thorough examination of all the mechanisms involved because there are areas of political donations that are not completely black and white. In his speech, the Minister highlighted the example of membership fees for members of political parties. Advancing that point further, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil run members' draws. If one takes the membership fee and the cost of purchasing a ticket for the members' draw, one is adding two sums together which are going to the same destination. Are we therefore getting further into a donation process and will it push an individual over a limit? It obviously depends on the price charged for membership and the cost of a ticket, as well as whether an individual takes up membership and purchases a couple of tickets.

I will make two political points, although we do not have to put on our boxing gloves for this matter. Fine Gael promised before the election to ban corporate donations. I recall seeing the Minister, in one of the pre-election debates, promising to publish the Fine Gael accounts on the party website. I do not think that has been done to date.

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