Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Again this week we have fresh evidence from Sinn Féin's electoral returns that real reform is needed in the area of electoral spending as committed to in the programme for Government. The main Opposition party finds itself consistently U-turning in its declarations for all major elections in the past decade. Accountability and transparency must be an essential cornerstone of our democracy. It does not seem to be so for Sinn Féin. Currently, it wants us to believe it only spent on average €21 on each of its 230 candidates in the 2019 local elections. The party now claims that local areas pay for their own local election campaigns, which is a complete contradiction of its claim last month that local election expenditure was included in its European election returns to the Standards in Public Office, SIPO, Commission. It is a financial circus. It gives us a glimpse into the unmitigated disaster we would face if Sinn Féin were in charge of the finances of our nation. Will the Taoiseach give the Dáil an update on the electoral spending reforms that are urgently needed?

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