Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to propose this motion on behalf of the Fine Gael group in the Seanad. It comes in the context of the legislation that relates to political donations and political funding in Ireland. All of us in this House know that in the past, the culture of political donations in Ireland involved politicians receiving money without any oversight or transparency. We are acutely aware of the damage that did to all aspects of Irish society, but particularly, to the esteem in which politics was held in this country. It has damaged it and that damage is still apparent today.

In that regard, in 2001 the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, was established to deal with exactly these issues and to put in place a framework that ensured political parties and politicians were accountable for the money they received and there was a control and a smacht, of sorts, in the manner in which money was spent in politics. After the establishment of SIPO, it became apparent that there was a gap in the legislation. It also became apparent - and this was one of the recommendations from the Moriarty tribunal report - that a cap needed to be put on the amount of money any individual, politician or party could accept as a political donation.

In 2012, the then Fine Gael-led Government proposed the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012. It first came into the Houses in 2011. It was debated first in the Seanad and then in the Dáil in the first half of 2012. The Bill addressed those recommendations and substantially restricted donations to political parties from private individuals and corporate sources. That was the first time there had been such a comprehensive attempt to address political funding in that regard. Section 9 of 2012 Act inserted a new section 23A into the Electoral Act 1997, subsection (1) of which limits the amount of money any person could give to a political party to €2,500. As a result of that legislation, in no circumstance may any one person give any more than €2,500 to a political party.

That legislation received support from all parties, particularly from Sinn Féin which welcomed the legislation into this House and spoke in favour of it. Deputy David Cullinane was at that time a Senator in this House. He spoke at various Stages during the debate and explained how the Bill tied into the broader issue of representation in politics. He mentioned that many people had turned away from politics because of what they had seen in the years before that. He said:

That is part of the problem in that there are still loopholes in the system. There are ways in which people can get around these limits.

It appears that was never as true as it is today. At a later Stage, he said, "It is important we ensure that in seeking to reform this area, we make it as accountable as possible." I find myself in a position where I must wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.

His colleague in the Dáil, Deputy Brian Stanley, welcomed the legislation, and specifically welcomed the reduction to €2,500 the maximum single donation that a political party could receive. He continued:

Political transparency is very important.

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Limiting the influence of big business and of a small number of wealthy individuals on our political system is essential for the protection of a fair democratic system.

The then Senator Cullinane lamented the fact that in American politics, "billions of dollars are now being raised by the political parties and candidates". In light of what we now know about the bequest from Mr. William Hampton, the only party on this island which seems to take in money in that kind of order is Sinn Féin. The situation now is that when it suits, Sinn Féin abandons the speeches of 2012, moves away from the suggestion that there must be transparency and moves away from the support for measures that restrict the number of donations that can be given to political parties.

We recognise there is a gap in the legislation. It concerns any party operating in Ireland and in other jurisdictions, which is not just Sinn Féin; it is also the Green Party and Solidarity-People Before Profit.However, neither of these parties received the €4 million bequest that came from the estate of Englishman William Hampton in recent times. The most notable thing about this bequest is that it came with conditions. It was, we know, and this is in the motion, for the political party in the Republic of Ireland currently known as Sinn Féin. The money was given to Sinn Féin for operations in the Republic of Ireland. Sinn Féin will undoubtedly say it operates in the North and it will spend that money in the North but it cannot have it both ways. The legislation in this jurisdiction is clear. Either Sinn Féin disagrees with the conditions of the bequest from Mr. Hampton or it proposes to spend it other than solely in the North of Ireland. The difficulty is we cannot be sure. We cannot know and this is the gap that exists in the legislation. This is why Fine Gael is bringing this motion.