Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

On a point of clarification and before we finalise this part of the legislation, when I asked the Minister of State a question on Committee Stage regarding the 10% incurred by the party, he said it was a percentage of the combined total. Is that 10% of the total of the town council and the county council or all of the county council and one quarter of the town council? The Bill states: "Where a candidate contests an election for both a county council and a borough or town council, the election expenses which may be incurred by or on behalf of the candidate in connection with his or her candidature at the election shall be the limit appropriate to the electoral area in the county in which the candidate is nominated plus one quarter of the spending limit appropriate to the electoral area". I raise this query to clarify the Bill and allow for a better understanding because confusion can be caused.

The Minister of State must remember that when candidates are in the thick of elections and trying to comply with legislation, the legislation must be clear and there must be clarity in respect of these points. The last thing any candidate wants to do is to be on the wrong side of the law and we must be careful in the signals we send out in that regard. We already have an indication from the Minister of State that it is 10% of the total amount of the county and borough councils. I would like that clarified. Is it 10% of all of the county council and one quarter of the town council? That is what it appears to me but there is no clarity in that regard.