John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)

I agree with much that Senator Ryan had to say but he made some conjunctions which he was not entitled to make or which required a leap of imagination on his part. At this stage everybody on all sides of both House recognises the need for electoral Acts, the Ethics in Public Office Act, that there must be regulation and that we need to know where money comes from and how it is spent. We also need to know how Members operate and that matters are done openly and transparently. That is a given and I would be surprised if any Member said otherwise. However, we are confronted with choices about how we conduct elections. When surveyed on how they would like elections to be funded, the people frequently express their opposition to both public and private funding. We cannot have it every way. It costs money to run the electoral system and it must be found, be it from public or private sources or a combination of both. Candidates get refunds if they achieve a certain level of the vote.

I agree with the views expressed about the Standards in Public Office Commission. It was helpful and tried its best to answer the questions we posed. Commission officials were always available and helpful when there were questions to be asked. However, it seems to adopt a narrow, accounting type of approach. For example, the origins of small invoices of, say, €20 or €30 must be traced. In this regard, a comparison may be drawn with the Revenue Commissioners. We must all be compliant taxpayers but the commissioners nowadays appear to be much more amenable to allowing for some degree of flexibility. The Standards in Public Office Commission should take a similar approach. It would minimise the need to ask repeated questions about minor aspects or nuances.

I thank the commission for writing to me to advise that I had assigned a certain amount of my spending to the Fianna Fáil Party. I was not aware I had done so.