Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act, 1999

Appointment of designated person.

8.—(1) (a) Before incurring any election expenses at an election in a local electoral area or in an electoral area on behalf of a candidate, a political party shall appoint for the purposes of this Act, a person (in this Act referred to as the “designated person”) who shall be responsible for submitting a statement of election expenses under section 13 .

(b) Not later than the last day for receiving nominations for an election, a political party which is required to appoint a designated person by virtue of paragraph (a) shall notify the local authority concerned in writing of the name of the said person 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 designated person.

(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 designated person and the address of the person's office to the local authority concerned, the appropriate officer appointed, or deemed to have been appointed, under section 71 of the Act of 1997, shall be deemed to be the designated person of the party, the party shall be deemed to have revoked the appointment of any other person as the designated person and the provisions of this Act shall apply to the said officer in the same manner as they apply to a designated person.

(3) A political party may, at any time, revoke the appointment of a designated person made by it under this section or deemed to be designated by it by virtue of subsection (2).

(4) (a) If, before the statement of election expenses has been furnished to the relevant local authority in accordance with section 13 , the appointment of the designated person is revoked, or a person appointed as such dies, resigns or is otherwise unable to act, another designated person shall be appointed forthwith by the political party concerned.

(b) The provisions of this section shall have effect in relation to an appointment under this subsection and a designated person so appointed shall be subject to the provisions of this Act in the same manner as a designated person appointed otherwise under this section.

(5) As soon as may be after receipt of notification of the appointment of a designated person by a political party, pursuant to subsection (1) or (4), the local authority concerned shall publish in a newspaper circulating in the functional area of the local authority the name of the designated person appointed under this section, the political party by whom the designated person was appointed and the address of the office of the designated person.