Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 136: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will implement controls on candidate expenditure in the forthcoming local elections. [20782/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In accordance with the Programme for Government, my Department recently published the Green Paper on local government reform, Stronger Local Democracy — Options for Change. The Green Paper outlines a range of issues for consideration including the establishment of expenditure limits at local elections.

The submissions made in the course of the preparation of the Green Paper were generally supportive of some kind of expenditure limit. The Green Paper outlines two main options in relation to such limits for local elections: to introduce a fixed expenditure ceiling or to link limits to a proportion of Dáil expenditure. It states that care needs to be taken to ensure against overly bureaucratic rules and suggests that it may be useful to engage on the issue on a cross party basis. I will be writing shortly to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Heritage and Local Government to seek a meeting with them in this regard.