Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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747. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the actions taken from the recommendations made in the Moriarty tribunal report, which he received in March 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23083/15]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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748. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of meetings he has held in his Department in relation to the recommendations in the Moriarty tribunal teport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23084/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 747 and 748 together.

The Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012, (the 2012 Act), which became law in July 2012, significantly enhanced the openness and transparency of political funding in Ireland. These were issues that were central to the recommendations made in the Moriarty Tribunal Report which was published in March 2011. The Tribunal recommended that the income of political parties be disclosed and that political donations, apart from those under a modest threshold, be reported.

The 2012 Act brought into force restrictions on corporate donations and considerable reductions in the maximum amount that a political party or an individual can accept as a political donation. The donation limit for a political party was reduced from €6,348.69 to €2,500, while for an individual politician or candidate it fell from €2,539.48 to €1,000. A limit of €200 was placed on donations in cash. The threshold for the receipt of anonymous donations was reduced to €100. The donation threshold amount that gives rise to the requirement to open a political donations account was reduced to €100. Anonymous indirect donations were banned. The threshold at which political party donations must be reported and published was reduced from €5,078.95 to €1,500.

The 2012 Act provides that political parties are required to submit audited annual accounts to the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) for publication. In line with SIPO guidelines, which came into effect on 1 January 2015, the first set of accounts required to be audited will be in respect of 2015 and must be submitted to SIPO by mid 2016. This requirement goes beyond the Moriarty Tribunal recommendation by providing that both the income and expenditure of political parties will be reported and open to public scrutiny. By restricting corporate donations, the Act also went beyond the recommendations made by the Tribunal.

Work on preparing a draft general scheme for the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill had commenced before the publication of the Moriarty Tribunal Report in March 2011. No specific meetings were held in relation to the recommendations in the Moriarty Report; however, account was taken of the recommendations as part of the ongoing work in developing the Bill, prior to its enactment in 2012.