Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The notion that money follows individuals is in my judgment a misunderstanding of what was intended, which was to support the workings of Parliament. Although the Constitution does not recognise the role of parties, we all do. Senators Byrne and Healy Eames made the point that none of the people elected to this House were elected on a party ticket. It is true that there is no party allegiance on the ballot paper. In the case of the Labour Party, we looked at the quota of councillors we had and selected candidates appropriate to that. It may have been an extraordinary coincidence that the number of votes secured was closely affiliated to the number of councillors in the party.