Electoral Act, 1997
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PART IV Disclosure of Donations | ||
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Interpretation (Part IV). |
22.—(1) In this Part “subsidiary organisation” means, in relation to any political party, a body or association which— | |
(a) forms part of such political party, or | ||
(b) is established by or under the constitution of the political party, or | ||
(c) is effectively controlled by the political party or the officers thereof, or | ||
(d) has functions conferred on it by or under the constitution of the party. | ||
(2) For the purposes of this Part— | ||
(a) “donation” means any contribution given for political purposes by any person, whether or not a member of a political party, to a political party, a member of either House of the Oireachtas, a representative in the European Parliament or a candidate at a Dáil, Seanad or European election and includes all or any of the following, namely— | ||
(i) a donation of money, | ||
(ii) a donation of property or goods, | ||
(iii) conferring the right to use, without payment or other consideration, indefinitely or for a specified period of time, any property or goods, | ||
(iv) the supply of services without payment or other consideration therefor, | ||
(v) the 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, or | ||
(vi) in the case of a contribution made by a person in connection with an event organised for the purpose of raising funds for a political party, a member of either House of the Oireachtas, a representative in the European Parliament or a candidate at a Dáil, Seanad or European election, the proportion attributable to that contribution of the net profit, if any, deriving from the event; | ||
(b) each of the following shall be deemed not to be a donation— | ||
(i) free postage provided for a candidate under rule 22 of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1997 or section 57 of the Act of 1992 or the said section 57 as applied to Seanad elections by section 25 of the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act, 1937 , | ||
(ii) any payment, service or facility provided to a person out of public funds or moneys provided by an institution of the European Communities or other intergovernmental organisation to which the State is a party (whether pursuant to this Act, the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Acts, 1938 to 1996, the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Acts, 1938 to 1996, the European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Act, 1979 , or otherwise) by virtue of being a member of either House of the Oireachtas, a holder of a qualifying office (within the meaning of the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Acts, 1938 to 1996), the holder of a position referred to in the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act, 1994, a representative in the European Parliament, a political party, a political group or any group of members in the Dáil, the holder of an elective or other public office or 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, | ||
(iii) benefits derived from services rendered by an individual, including the use of the individual's motor vehicle, on behalf of a political party, a member of either House of the Oireachtas, a representative in the European Parliament or a candidate at a Dáil, Seanad, European or local election where the said service is gratuitous and is not part of that individual's work carried out under a contract of employment or, where the person is self employed, in the course of the person's business or the practice of the person's profession, | ||
(iv) 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 a member of either House of the Oireachtas or a representative in the European Parliament or a candidate at a Dáil, Seanad or European election, | ||
(v) the transmission on radio or television of a broadcast on behalf of a political party or a candidate at a Dáil or European election; | ||
(c) a donation, whether made directly or through any intermediary, shall be deemed to be made— | ||
(i) to a political party if it is made to the party, to any branch or subsidiary organisation thereof, to any candidate of the party at a Dáil, Seanad, European or local election, to any member of the party who is a member of either House of the Oireachtas or a local authority or a representative in the European Parliament or to any officer, member or agent of the party or of any branch or subsidiary organisation thereof, | ||
(ii) to a member of either House of the Oireachtas, a representative in the European Parliament or a candidate at a Dáil, Seanad or European election if it is made to the member, representative or candidate concerned or to any agent or other person acting for the said member, representative or candidate, | ||
and any reference to a donation or the acceptance thereof shall be construed accordingly; | ||
(d) where a person makes more than one donation— | ||
(i) in the same year to the same political party, member of either House of the Oireachtas or representative in the European Parliament, or | ||
(ii) in relation to the same Dáil, Seanad or European election to the same candidate, | ||
all such donations shall, for the purposes of section 24 , be aggregated and treated as a single donation. |