Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this important Bill. Other Deputies have observed that on the day the report of the Mahon tribunal is published it is timely to be discussing the issue of political funding. Some of the activities highlighted in that report were prevalent before the representation allowance was introduced with a view to ensuring local authority members would have a more professional role. That was a positive initiative by a previous Minister.

In the early years following the foundation of the State, only business owners and certain professional people were wealthy enough to participate in politics. That remains the case in some countries today. For example, a recent report in the United States found that more than 60% of members of Congress are millionaires. This is reflective of the level of costs involved in funding political campaigns in that country and of keeping one's seat after it is won. In Britain we have seen people giving donations of €1 million to political parties and subsequently receiving a peerage or knighthood. There is plenty of evidence of that in the honours lists. The United States President, Mr. Obama, has largely forgone the option of public funding and instead sought to fund his re-election campaign by way of individual donations. He made great use of the Internet to that end in the last presidential election. All of these issues must be taken into account.

There is a broad range of views in this State on the issue of political funding. I have heard people argue that taxpayers' money should not be used to fund political parties. Others have expressed indignation at party activists collecting money at church gates. I have listened to arguments for the complete banning of corporate donations. My view is that State funding is necessary, but we must ensure there is transparency in its administration. This Bill delivers on the commitments in the programme for Government in this regard. Anonymous donations of more than €127 are banned, foreign donations from persons with no direct link to Ireland are outlawed, and the maximum donation that can be accepted by a public representative and a political party will be just over €2,500 and just over €6,300, respectively. These standards will ensure a greater degree of transparency.

On the issue of gender quotas, the majority of people agree on the desirability of a greater representation of women in politics. The question is how that can be achieved. In my first election in 2004 there were four candidates in my constituency, two men and two women. In the next election there were two men and one woman and last year there was a 50:50 split. We seem to be above the curve in Galway West, including Connemara - even though it is sometimes regarded as a conservative place - in terms of the selection of female candidates. That is not always the case in some of the neighbouring constituencies. In Galway East and Clare, for instance, it is my understanding that there were all-male tickets at the last election.

My concern in regard to these proposals is that they are targeted at the next general election. I urge political parties to consider introducing gender quotas voluntarily at the coming local government elections. Must of us have come through the local authority system. By ensuring we get more female candidates elected to county councils we will give them the spur to go on and take seats in a general election. We have heard much about the prospect of token candidates. Of course the ideal situation is that we will find women of merit to stand for political office, which I am confident we will. There are women who are opposed to quotas on the basis of these concerns regarding tokenism. I commend my colleague, Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, who, as chairperson of the internal justice group within Fine Gael, invited various groups to engage in discussion on this issue some weeks ago. There are jurisdictions in which quotas have not been successful but, on balance, I agree with the principle. I am confident they will facilitate more equal gender participation within the electoral system.

I commend the Bill to the House.

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