Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

Amendments Nos. 1 and 24 are technical provisions in sections 1 and 21. It is fitting we are back discussing amendments to a Bill that was commenced in the Seanad on Second Stage earlier this year, on 2 February. We have come full circle. Most Members will be familiar with the main provisions that were already contained within the Bill, having considered them in some detail here in the Seanad in February and March of this year. I will not, therefore, go back over old ground. We are present to discuss amendments made to the Bill by the Dáil.

I introduced 33 amendments to the Bill during its passage through the Dáil. These were all agreed on Report Stage and are now before the Seanad. The first two that we are now dealing with are technical amendments. The remaining 31 address recommendations made by the Mahon tribunal on political finance. In bringing forward these amendments, the Government has demonstrated its commitment to responding robustly and swiftly to the uncomfortable truths that are contained within the tribunal's report. I am pleased Senators will have the opportunity to review the amendments today. I hope they will agree they enhance a Bill that is already ground-breaking in many aspects.

First, I wish to provide some background to the amendments before we get into the specific details of what they do. In the week following the publication of the Mahon tribunal report in March, I said that my Department was reviewing the recommendations in the tribunal report with a view to facilitating early Government consideration of the need to bring forward amendments to this Bill. The amendments I am presenting now are in addition to the measures already contained within the Bill that respond to a number of the tribunal's recommendations. I wanted to ensure the Bill is enacted before the summer recess. However, I undertook to examine recommendations that were relevant to the Bill and that were amenable to being implemented by way of amendments. I am now doing so.

The amendments before the House today will make it an offence to give a political donation on behalf of another person without informing the recipient of the identity of the donor. Donation declaration statements must include additional information on the sources of donations and how they were received and recorded by the recipient. The threshold for anonymous donations is being reduced from £100, as it is currently, to €100. Consequent on the amendment, the threshold is being reduced to €100 for opening a political donations account, for the registration of a third party with the Standards in Public Office Commission and in the definitions of political party accounting units and of third parties. Individual cash donations in excess of €200 will be banned. Political parties will have to provide details of their local organisational structures for inclusion on the register of political parties.

We will get to all of those amendments later but for the moment we are dealing with amendments Nos. 1 and 24 on the list which the House is now examining. Both of those are technical amendments. Amendment No. 1 will ensure the collective citation for the Electoral Acts in the Bill is correct. With the passage last week of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2012, the collective citation for the Electoral Acts must be changed to refer to "the Electoral Acts 1992 to 2012". Previously, the reference was to "the Electoral Acts 1992 to 2011".

Amendment No. 24 is a further technical provision to ensure correct referencing is applied. The amendment will clarify that the "Act of 1999" is being amended in this instance. This amendment is necessary to ensure the referencing in section 21 of the Bill is correct. The Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act 1999 is being amended and is referred to as "the Act of 1999".