Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act 1999

PART I Preliminary and General

1 Short title and collective citations.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act, 1999.

(2) The Electoral Acts, 1992 to 1998, and this Act may be cited together as the Electoral Acts, 1992 to 1999, and shall be construed together as one.

(3) The Local Elections Acts, 1974 to 1998, and this Act (other than subsection (4) and so much of section 25 as relates to the European Parliament elections) may be cited together as the Local Elections Acts, 1974 to 1999, and shall be construed together as one.

(4) The European Parliament Elections Acts, 1992 to 1997, this subsection and so much of sections 2 and 25 as relate to the European Parliament elections may be cited together as the European Parliament Elections Acts, 1992 to 1999, and shall be construed together as one.

2 Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the Act of 1992” means the Electoral Act, 1992;

“the Act of 1997” means the Electoral Act, 1997;

“the Act of 1998” means the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1998;

“the appropriate officer” has the meaning assigned to it in section 71 of the Act of 1997;

“candidate” means a candidate at a local election;

“clerk”, in relation to the corporation of a county or other borough, the council of an urban district or the commissioners of a town, means the town clerk;

“commercial price”, in relation to the supply of property, goods or services and the lending of property or goods, has the meaning assigned to it in section 2(1) of the Act of 1997;

“designated person” has the meaning assigned to it in section 8;

“donation” means any contribution given for political purposes by any person, whether or not a member of a political party, to a candidate at an election which is accepted in whole or in part by or duly on behalf of such person and includes—

(a) any donation of money,

(b) any donation of property or goods,

(c) any conferring of the right to use, without payment or other consideration, indefinitely or for a specified period of time, any property or goods,

(d) any supply of services without payment or other consideration therefor,

(e) any difference between the commercial price and the price charged for the purchase, acquisition or use of property or goods or the supply of any service where the price, fee or other consideration is less than the commercial price, and

(f) in the case of any contribution made by a person in connection with an event organised for the purpose of raising funds for a candidate at an election, any proportion attributable to that contribution of the net profit, if any, deriving from the event,

but does not include any payment relating to-

(i) any of the matters referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (ix) of section 6(1)(b), or

(ii) any election expenses incurred by or on behalf of a political party by a national agent or designated person, as the case may be, on behalf of a candidate authenticated by the political party at an election, other than a donation of money;

“election”, other than in Part VI, means a local election and in Part VI means a local election or the European Parliament election, as appropriate;

“electoral area” means the area by reference to which a local election is held in accordance with section 24(6) of the Local Government Act, 1994;

“local authority” means the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough, the council of an urban district or the commissioners of a town;

“local authority concerned” means the local authority to which a candidate seeks or sought election to be a member;

“local electoral area” means the area by reference to which a local election is held in accordance with section 24(1) of the Local Government Act, 1994;

“the Minister” means the Minister for the Environment and Local Government;

“national level”, in relation to election expenses or expenditure, has the meaning assigned to it by section 6(4)(a);

“national agent” has the meaning assigned to it by section 7;

“person” includes an individual, a body corporate and an unincorporated body of persons and a body corporate and any subsidiary thereof shall be deemed to be one person;

“political party” means a party registered in the Register of Political Parties in accordance with section 25 of the Act of 1992 as a party organised to contest a local election;

“polling day” means the day appointed by order of the Minister to be polling day at a local election;

“prescribed” has the meaning assigned by section 3;

“property” means real and personal property;

“returning officer” means a returning officer at a local election;

“secretary”, in relation to a county council, means the county secretary or the officer in whom the functions of the county secretary are vested;

“specified local authority” means the local authority specified by order of the Minister in section 6;

“subsidiary organisation” has the meaning assigned to it by section 22(1) of the Act of 1997.

(2) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a Part or section is to a Part or section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended;

(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended;

(c) a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act.

3 Regulations.

3.—(1) The Minister may make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed.

(2) Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

4 Ministerial expenses.

4.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

5 Repeals.

5.—Sections 72 and 75 of the Electoral Act, 1997, are hereby repealed.

PART II Election Expenses and Accountable Persons

6 Expenses and payments at election.

6.—(1) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), “election expenses” means all expenditure for electoral purposes incurred on the provision of property, goods or services for use at an election during the period referred to in subsection (3) in order—

(i) to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the interests of a political party, or to present the policies or a particular policy of a political party or the comments of a political party on the policy or policies of another political party or of one or more than one candidate at the election, or

(ii) to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the election of a candidate at the election or to solicit votes for or against a candidate or to present the policies or a particular policy of a candidate or the views of a candidate on any matter connected with the election or the comments of a candidate on the policy or policies of a political party or of any other candidate at the election, or

(iii) otherwise to influence the outcome of the election,

and shall be deemed to include all expenditure incurred in the taking of an opinion poll or other similar survey relating to an election within the period of 60 days before polling day at the election by or on behalf of a political party or one or more than one candidate at the election.

(b) The following shall be deemed not to be election expenses—

(i) the payment by or on behalf of a candidate of the deposit under article 15 of the Local Elections Regulations, 1995 (S.I. No. 297 of 1995);

(ii) expenditure on the purchase of copies of the register of electors or parts thereof;

(iii) the reasonable living expenses of a candidate or any person or persons working on behalf of the candidate on a voluntary basis;

(iv) any sum disbursed by any individual out of the individual's own resources for any minor expenses lawfully incurred in relation to the election if the said sum is not repaid to the person;

(v) any payment, service or facility provided to a person out of public funds or moneys provided by an institution of the European Community or other intergovernmental organisation to which the State is a party by virtue of being—

(I) a member of either House of the Oireachtas,

(II) a holder of a qualifying office within the meaning of the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Acts, 1938 to 1998,

(III) the holder of a position referred to in the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act, 1994,

(IV) a representative in the European Parliament,

(V) a political party,

(VI) a political group or any group of members of Dáil éireann,

(VII) the holder of an elective or other public office,

(VIII) a member of, delegate to or representative in a body established by or under an agreement or arrangement to which the State is a party, or

(IX) a member of a local authority;

(vi) benefits derived from—

(I) a service rendered by an individual, including the use of the individual's motor vehicle, on behalf of a political party or a candidate at an election where that service is gratuitous and—

(A) is not part of that individual's work carried out under a contract of employment, or

(B) where the individual is self-employed, is not in the course of the individual's business or in the practice of the individual's profession,

or

(II) a service rendered at an election by an individual in the employment of a political party, (whether remunerated out of the party's own resources or out of public funds) including the use of the individual's motor vehicle on behalf of a candidate of that party at an election where the individual is not in receipt of any reward or benefit-in-kind other than his or her normal remuneration in consideration of that service;

(vii) the publication in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication or the broadcast on radio or television of news, reports, articles, features, editorial or other comments, including the publication of letters to the editor, where such publication or broadcast is effected in the same manner as that of other material relating to issues of public interest or concern, and the newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication is not published for the purpose of promoting the interests of a political party or of a candidate at an election;

(viii) the transmission on radio or television of a broadcast on behalf of a political party or candidate at an election;

(ix) expenses incurred in the provision of property, goods or services used at an election where such property, goods or services was or were provided in respect of a previous Presidential, Dáil, European or local election and the cost of providing such property, goods or services was included in the statement of election expenses furnished to the Public Offices Commission or to a local authority in relation to the said previous election by the national agent of the political party, election agent, designated person or by the candidate, as the case may be.

(2) Where property, goods or services are provided to a political party or a candidate at an election without payment or other consideration therefor or at a price which is less than the commercial price, the provision of the property, goods or services shall be deemed to be an election expense and the property, goods or services shall be deemed to have been provided at the commercial price and shall be accounted for accordingly in the statements to be furnished under section 13 to the specified local authority or to the local authority concerned.

(3) The following shall be included in the statement to be furnished to the specified local authority or to the local authority concerned under section 13:

(a) all election expenses incurred by or on behalf of a political party or a candidate at any time during the period commencing on the date of the order, made under section 21 of the Local Government Act, 1994, appointing polling day and ending on polling day at the election;

(b) subject to subsection (1)(b)(ix), all election expenses incurred by or on behalf of a political party or a candidate at any time before the commencement of the relevant period referred to in paragraph (a) for the provision of property, goods or services for use at the election during the period referred to in paragraph (a);

(c) all payments made in respect of the election expenses referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b).

(4) Election expenses shall only be incurred at an election and any payment, advance or deposit shall only be made for such election expenses—

(a) on behalf of a political party in respect of an area other than a local electoral area or an electoral area (in this Act referred to as a “national level”), by the national agent of such party,

(b) on behalf of a political party in respect of a local electoral area or an electoral area, by the designated person, and

(c) on behalf of a candidate, by the candidate.

(5) In subsection (4), “national agent”, “designated person” and “candidate” shall be construed as including a person or persons authorised for the purpose of subsection (4) by the said national agent, designated person, or candidate, as the case may be, and any expenditure incurred or payment made by such person or persons shall be disclosed by the national agent, designated person or candidate in the statement to be provided under section 13.

(6) Where any election expenses are incurred at an election by a body which—

(a) was established by or on behalf of a political party or a candidate for the purposes of incurring election expenses or making payments in respect of such expenses or for any of the purposes referred to in subsection (1)(a), or

(b) is a member of or is a branch or subsidiary organisation of a political party, or

(c) is effectively controlled by a political party or by a candidate or is or appears to be so connected or associated with a political party or candidate that a reasonable person would believe that it is controlled or substantially influenced by that political party or candidate,

then such expenses shall be deemed to have been incurred on behalf of the party or the candidate concerned and shall be duly accounted for by the national agent, designated person or candidate.

(7) Before incurring any expenses at an election a person (other than the national agent of a political party or designated person or the candidate or a person authorised by any such agent, person or candidate for the purpose of subsection (4)) who proposes to incur election expenses shall furnish in writing to the specified local authority in the case of expenditure at a national level or to the local authority concerned in any other case—

(a) the name, address and description of the person proposing to incur the expenses,

(b) a statement of the nature, purpose and estimated amount of such expenses, and

(c) an indication of the person's connection, if any, with any party or candidate at the election.

(8) Where, notwithstanding sections 7 and 8, election expenses are incurred by or on behalf of a political party at an election before the appointment by the party of a national agent or a designated person, the political party shall furnish to the relevant agent or a designated person details of such expenses, together with all relevant vouchers, and such election expenses shall be deemed to be expenses incurred by the national agent or designated person.

(9) The publisher of a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication shall not publish any advertisement or notice in relation to an election purporting to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the interests of a political party or a candidate at that election at the request of any person other than the national agent of a political party, designated person or a person authorised in writing by such agent or designated person, or a candidate at the election or a person authorised in writing by such candidate, unless the person produces to the said publisher a certificate from the specified local authority or from the local authority concerned that that person has complied with the provisions of subsection (7) in relation to that election.

(10) This section shall not be construed so as to prevent or restrict the lawful publication of any matter in relation to an election in a newspaper or other publication or the broadcast of such matter by radio or television or the lawful expression of opinion on any matter of public interest by any person.

(11) The Minister may by order specify a local authority as a “specified local authority” for the purposes of this Act.

7 Appointment of national agent.

7.—(1) (a) Before incurring any election expenses at an election, each political party, except a party registered to contest an election in only a part of the State, which authenticates the candidature of a candidate at the election shall appoint for the purposes of this Act an agent (in this Act referred to as a “national agent”).

(b) Not later than the last day for receiving nominations for an election, each political party which is required to appoint a national agent by virtue of paragraph (a) shall notify the specified local authority in writing of the name of its national agent and the address of his or her office.

(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the appointment by a political party of a candidate at an election as the national agent.

(2) Where a political party referred to in subsection (1) has not, before the latest time for withdrawal of candidature at an election, notified the name of the national agent and the address of the agent's office to the specified local authority, the appropriate officer appointed, or deemed to have been appointed, under section 71 of the Act of 1997, shall be deemed to be the national agent of the party, the party shall be deemed to have revoked the appointment of any other person as the national agent and the provisions of this Act shall apply to the said officer in the same manner as they apply to a national agent.