Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 7, to delete lines 16 to 40, to delete page 8, and in page 9, to delete lines 1 to 33 and to substitute the following:

7.—The Act of 1997 is amended by inserting the following section after section 23A (inserted by section 49(d) of the Act of 2001):

"23AA.—(1) None of the following persons namely—

(a) a member of either House of the Oireachtas,

(b) a member of the European Parliament,

(c) a candidate at a Dáil, Seanad or European election,

(d) a political party,

(e) a third party, or

(f) an accounting unit,

shall not directly or through any intermediary accept any corporate donations.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a donation shall not be prohibited under that subsection where—

(a) a provider of a programme of education and training,

(b) the students' union or other representative body recognised by a provider of a programme of education and training,

makes a payment to a club, society or other body, operating with the permission and on the premises of the provider of a programme of education and training, and every member of which is a student who is enrolled or registered with the provider of a programme of education and training.

(3) Where, notwithstanding subsection (1) a donation the acceptance of which is prohibited by that subsection, is made to a person referred to therein, the donee shall, not later than 14 days after the receipt of the donation either, return the donation or, in the case of a donation which is a monetary donation, the part of it exceeding the limit concerned to the corporate donor and keep a written record of that return for the purposes of it being furnished to the Standards in Public Office Commission, if required by it.

(4) The Standards in Public Office Commission shall dispose of all moneys, property or goods received under subsection (3) in such manner as may be directed by the Minister for Finance.".".

Sinn Féin opposes the practice of corporate donations to political parties. Our amendments state clearly that there should be a total ban on corporate donations, whether large or small and whether paid directly or through any intermediary, but an exemption from the new registration requirements is given to a provider of a programme of education and training or a students' union where such a body makes a payment to a students' society or club. This will allow colleges or students' unions to continue to provide financial support to student groups that promote political participation without being obliged to comply with the new corporate donor requirements. These grants to student societies can hardly be regarded as the sort of corporate donation that needs to be restricted, and this exemption does not contradict our objective of enhancing the openness and transparency of political funding in Ireland. There is a world of difference between a student society getting a payment from a third level institution to fund a political society and what we are talking about here in terms of corporate donations. Students' unions should not be subject to this.

See this speech in context