PART III

Payments to Political Parties and Reimbursement of Election Expenses of Candidates

16. —In this Part “qualified party” means a political party in respect of which each of the following conditions is fulfilled—

(a) the party is registered in the Register of Political Parties in accordance with section 25 of the Act of 1992 as a party organised (within the meaning of subsection (2)(a) of that section) in the State to contest a Dáil election; and

(b) the total first preference votes obtained by candidates whose candidatures were authenticated by the party at the last preceding general election expressed as a percentage of total first preference votes obtained by all candidates at that election was not less than two per cent.

17. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, payments shall be made out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof to each qualified party which applies therefor.

(2) (a) The aggregate of the payments which may be made to qualified parties in any twelve monthly period under this Part shall not, subject to paragraph (b), exceed one million pounds.

(b) (i) Whenever, on or after the passing of this Act, there is a general increase of remuneration in the civil service with effect from a particular date, pursuant to agreements or arrangements having effect on a general basis in the civil service (whether or not they also apply in relation to persons employed other than in the civil service), the aggregate of the payments which may be made under this section shall be increased correspondingly with effect from that date.

(ii) In this paragraph “civil service” has the meaning assigned to it by the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956.

(3) The amount payable to qualified parties under subsection (2) shall be allocated to each qualified party in the same proportion as the total number of first preference votes obtained by every candidate of each such qualified party at the preceding general election bears to the total number of first preference votes obtained by candidates of all qualified parties at that election.

(4) As soon as may be after the declaration of the result of a general election is completed in each constituency, the Minister shall furnish to the Public Offices Commission and the Minister for Finance, in writing:

(a) particulars of the total percentage of first preference votes obtained at the election by candidates of each party referred to in section 16 calculated in accordance with paragraph (b) of the said section,

(b) the name of each candidate elected, and

(c) the name of each candidate who was not elected to whom the greatest number of votes credited at any stage of the counting of votes at the election exceeds one quarter of the quota,

as ascertained from the copy of the notice furnished to the Minister under section 127 (2) of the Act of 1992.

(5) Every payment made under this Part to a qualified party shall be exempt from income tax and shall not be reckoned in computing the income for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts of such party.

18. —(1) (a) A qualified party which receives payments under this Part shall, subject to guidelines issued by the Public Offices Commission pursuant to section 4 , apply such payments to any or all of the following purposes, namely—

(i) the general administration of the party,

(ii) research, education and training,

(iii) policy formulation, and

(iv) the co-ordination of the activities of the branches and members of the party.

(b) Payments made to a qualified party under this Part shall be deemed to include provision in respect of expenditure by the party in relation to the promotion of participation by women and young persons in political activity.

(2) A payment made to a qualified party under section 19 shall not be applied to, or to recoup, election expenses incurred at an election within the meaning of the Electoral Acts, 1992 to 1997, the Presidential Elections Acts, 1993 to 1997, the European Parliament Elections Acts, 1992 to 1997, the Seanad (Electoral) (University Members) Acts, 1937 to 1973, the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Acts, 1947 to 1972, the Local Elections Acts, 1974 to 1997 or the Údarás na Gaeltachta Act, 1979 or on furthering any particular outcome at a referendum within the meaning of the Referendum Acts, 1992 and 1994.

19. —(1) Subject to subsections (2), (3) and (4), payments under this section shall be made by the Minister for Finance in quarterly instalments in arrears.

(2) (a) The first payment under this section shall not be made until not less than three months have elapsed after the coming into operation of this Part.

(b) Payments made under this section, calculated in accordance with section 17 , after the date on which this Part comes into operation shall apply from the said date and such payments so calculated shall continue to be made in respect of the period up to and including the day before polling day at the general election held next after the said date.

(c) Payments made under this section after the general election next held after the coming into operation of this Part and each subsequent general election shall apply from polling day at such election and such payments, calculated in accordance with section 17 , shall continue to be made in respect of the period up to and including the day before polling day at the general election held next after the first-mentioned polling day.

(3) Where, on a dissolution of the Dáil, the period between the end of the quarter in respect of which payments were last made or due to be made before such dissolution and the polling day at the general election occasioned by such dissolution is a period of less than a quarter, the payments due to qualified parties for such period, calculated accordingly, shall be made to such qualified parties for such period.

(4) No payment shall be made under this section after the thirtieth day of April in any year (other than the year in which this Part comes into operation) unless and until the statement and the report of the auditor referred to in section 20 and the donation statement and statutory declaration referred to in section 24 as respect the party concerned for the preceding year have been received by the Public Offices Commission and the said Commission has furnished a copy thereof to the Minister for Finance and certified to the said Minister that the said statement and report, and the said donation statement and statutory declaration were completed in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commission under section 4 and comply with the provisions of this Part and Part IV , respectively.

20. —(1) As soon as may be after the end of a year in which payments are made to a qualified party under this Part, the appropriate officer of the party shall furnish to the Public Offices Commission a statement in writing, in the form directed by the Commission, signed by the officer, stating that the payments were applied to some or all of the purposes referred to in section 18 (1) and indicating the matters to which the payments were applied, including the amounts applied to the promotion of participation, respectively, by women and young persons in political activity.

(2) The appropriate officer of the party shall cause the statement referred to in subsection (1) to be audited by a public auditor and, in furnishing the statement to the Public Offices Commission, shall attach thereto the relevant report of the auditor.

(3) The Public Offices Commission shall cause a copy of each statement and auditor's report furnished to it under this section to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and shall furnish a copy thereof to the Minister for finance.

(4) In this section “public auditor” means a public auditor for the purposes of the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1893 to 1978, and the Friendly Societies Acts, 1896 to 1977.

21. —(1) (a) Subject to paragraphs (b), (c) and (d), election expenses shall be reimbursed to a candidate at a Dáil general election or bye-election who—

(i) is elected at the election; or

(ii) is not so elected but the greatest number of votes credited to him or her at any stage of the counting of votes at the election exceeds one quarter of the quota.

(b) (i) The amount of election expenses which may be reimbursed to a candidate under this section shall be the actual expenses incurred by the candidate or five thousand pounds, whichever is the less.

(ii) Election expenses deemed to have been incurred by a candidate of a political party under section 32 (1)(b) shall be reckoned for the purposes of this section.

(c) Subject to paragraph (d), payments in respect of the reimbursement of election expenses under this section shall be made by the Minister for Finance out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof to each candidate referred to in paragraph (a) who applies therefor to the Public Offices Commission.

(d) No payment in respect of the reimbursement of election expenses of a candidate shall be made under this section unless and until the Public Offices Commission has—

(i) certified to the Minister for Finance that the relevant statement of election expenses and statutory declaration have been furnished by the election agent of the candidate to the Commission under section 36 ,

(ii) certified to the said Minister that the said statement was completed in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commission under section 4 , and complies with the provisions of Part V , and

(iii) furnished to the Minister for Finance details of the amount of the actual expenses incurred by the candidate.

(e) The Public Offices Commission shall furnish to the Minister for Finance, as soon as may be after consideration by it of an application for reimbursement of election expenses under paragraph (c) and the statement of election expenses furnished to it in respect of the candidate under section 36 , the details referred to in paragraph (d) in respect of each candidate who is eligible for reimbursement of election expenses at an election.

(f) (i) Where a candidate referred to in paragraph (a) dies after the close of the poll at an election and has not made an application for the reimbursement of election expenses under this section, an application for the reimbursement of the said candidate's election expenses may be made by, and where appropriate, the payment may be made to, the personal representative of the candidate.

(ii) Where a candidate referred to in paragraph (a) dies after making an application for the reimbursement of election expenses under this section and before payment is made to the candidate, payment in respect of the reimbursement of the said candidate's expenses may be made to the personal representative of the candidate.

(g) Every payment made to a candidate, or the personal representative of a candidate, as the case may be, under this section shall not be liable to income tax.

(2) (a) The Minister may make regulations providing for the reimbursement of election expenses of candidates at a presidential election or a European election and may make provisions corresponding to the provisions of this section subject however to any modification in those provisions appearing to the Minister to be appropriate.

(b) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), regulations under this subsection may make provision for all or any of the following matters:

(i) the criteria for the reimbursement of election expenses to candidates;

(ii) the amount of expenses which may be reimbursed;

(iii) the method of payment in respect of the reimbursement of such expenses; and

(iv) the procedure in relation to the reimbursement of election expenses where a candidate dies.

(3) Where regulations under this section are proposed to be made, a draft thereof shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each House.

(4) In this section the expression “election expenses”, insofar as it relates to Dáil or European elections, has the meaning assigned to it in section 31 and, insofar as it relates to presidential elections, has the meaning assigned to it in section 52 .