Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

If we want an equal playing pitch it will have to be equal in all respects, not just in how many newletters or posters one uses. The different ways that we raise our profiles or canvass will all have to be measured. It is not a perfect world. Then we will have to start analysing who is a friend of what media person or who is a drinking friend and who is not. Some people seem to get enormous publicity. Other people have to work for it and pay for it themselves. If we want equality, in the Senators' definition, it might branch out into certain areas they might not be thinking of.

The Government is committed to full and open accountability in disclosure of political donations and election expenses. Public confidence in the electoral system is paramount. The goal of the review is to secure a fully transparent and accountable system, which will be clearer, more concise and more easily understood for the benefit of the public, candidates at election time and political parties. That is what we should all centre on. Since we are to have a review, parties and politicians should stop making political points and stop talking about hospitals and other matters when we have the opportunity to focus on what is good for us as a profession. We should try to make rules and regulations that are sensible in enabling us to communicate and disseminate information to our constituents. There are a few areas in which I would welcome the views of Senators. If not tonight, maybe in the future, Senators might focus on the real issues at hand.

The all-embracing definition of a political party, especially the inclusion of branches, has created difficulties, particularly for the larger parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, due to the structure of those parties. Branches may be quite independent in some ways, with no reporting arrangements to party headquarters. A difficulty in regard to the disclosure of multiple donations from the same donor was covered by an amendment to the Act in 1998, which put the disclosure requirement on the multiple donor. However, there is a separate difficulty with the maximum permitted donation of €6,348.69, as it includes the aggregation of smaller amounts to any element of the party. Headquarters are required to put administrative procedures in place to ascertain if the aggregation of donations from one source in a year exceeds the €6,348.69 limit.