S.I. No. 442/2004 - Presidential Election (Reimbursement of Expenses) Regulations 2004

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 21 of the Electoral Act 1997 (No. 25 of 1997), as amended by section 4 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 4 of 1998) hereby makes the following Regulations, a draft of which has been approved by a resolution passed by each House of the Oireachtas:

Citation.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Presidential Election (Reimbursement of Expenses) Regulations 2004.

Interpretation.

2. In these Regulations—

“the Act of 1997” means the Electoral Act 1997 (No. 25 of 1997);

“the Act of 1998” means the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 4 of 1998);

“election” means a Presidential election held in accordance with the Presidential Elections Act 1993 .

3. (a) Subject to paragraphs (b), (c) and (d), election expenses shall be reimbursed to a candidate at an 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) The amount of election expenses which may be reimbursed to a candidate under these Regulations shall be the actual expenses incurred by the candidate or €260,000 whichever is the less.

(c) Subject to paragraph (d), payments in respect of the reimbursement of election expenses under this article 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 Standards in Public Offices Commission.

(d) No payment in respect of the reimbursement of election expenses of a candidate shall be made under these Regulations unless and until the Standards in 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 56 of the Act of 1997;

(ii) certified to the said Minister that the said statement was completed in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commission under section 4 of the Act of 1997, and complies with the provisions of Part VI of the Act of 1997; and

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

4. The Standards in 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 article 3(c) and the statement of election expenses furnished to it in respect of the candidate under section 56 of the Act of 1997, the details referred to in paragraph (d) of article 3 in respect of each candidate who is eligible for reimbursement of election expenses at an election.

5. (i)  Where a candidate referred to in paragraph (a) of article 3 dies after the close of the poll at an election and has not made an application for the reimbursement of election expenses under these Regulations, 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) of article 3 dies after making an application for the reimbursement of election expenses under these Regulations 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.

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

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations provide for the reimbursement to a candidate at a Presidential election, who is elected or who secures votes in excess of one quarter of the quota, of his/her actual expenses incurred or €260,000 whichever is the less.