Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

I will check when I get back to my office, or did the hackers get in and wipe it off as soon as it was posted?

It is right and proper that all accounts are published by the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO. They must be independently audited by SIPO and available for independent scrutiny by the commission. People will be cynical if a political party publishes its own accounts through its own medium. There must be an independent verification. Let SIPO be the vehicle for that.

Will the Bill apply the same donation and funding restrictions to referendum campaigns as to election campaigns? We are currently in a referendum cycle and we will be dealing with a number of referendums in the next couple of years. Where do we stand with regard to recording donations to referendum campaigns? Concern has been expressed by members of the public about the analysis carried out of recent referendums. It is alleged that some campaigns received funding from questionable sources. Given that it is proposed to hold a referendum on the fiscal compact before the summer, a referendum on children's rights is planned and a couple of others are stacking up, as it were, we need to examine this issue. Will donations to referendum campaigns be dealt with under separate legislation or can the issue be incorporated into this Bill? We do not want to let time slip by.

Gender balance is a difficult nut to crack. The Minister quoted statistics on the number of women who stood in the most recent general election and related it to the number of women elected to the Dáil. The Minister acknowledges that the Bill is a blunt instrument in achieving gender balance. Any reasonable measure to improve gender balance is right and proper. However, we need to look behind the numbers at the reasons so few women offer themselves for election in the first instance. We must also scenario test the 30% figure. What if a political party does not have the required 30% of women offering for selection?

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