Electoral Act, 1997

Expenses and payments at election.

31.—(1) (a) In this Part, subject to paragraph (b), “election expenses” means all expenditure incurred in connection with an election in order—

(i) to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the interests of a political party or a political group formed in accordance with the rules of procedure of the European Parliament, or to present the policies or a particular policy of a political party or a political group or the comments of a political party or a political group on the policy or policies of another political party or political group or of a 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 a political group or of another 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, a political group or a candidate at the election.

(b) The following shall be deemed not to be election expenses for the purposes of this Part—

(i) the payment by or on behalf of a candidate of the deposit under section 13 of the Act of 1997 or section 47 of the Act of 1992, as may be appropriate;

(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 of the matters referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 22 ;

(vi) 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 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 in relation to the said previous election by the national agent of the party or election agent of 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 by the national agent or election agent, as the case may be, in the statement to be furnished under section 36 to the Public Offices Commission.

(3) All election expenses incurred and all payments made by or on behalf of a political party or by or on behalf of a candidate, including election expenses so incurred or payments so made, in the case of a Dáil election, at any time before the issue of the writ or writs in relation to the election, and, in the case of a European election, at any time before the date of the order appointing the polling day at the election, for the provision of property, goods or services for use at the election, shall be reckoned for the purpose of this Part and shall be included in the statement to be furnished to the Public Offices Commission under section 36 .

(4) No election expenses shall be incurred at an election and no payment, advance or deposit shall be made in respect of such election expenses—

(a) on behalf of a political party, other than by the national agent of that party, and

(b) on behalf of a candidate (other than election expenses deemed under section 32 (1)(b)(ii) or 33 (1)(b)(ii) to be election expenses incurred by that candidate), other than by the election agent of that candidate.

(5) In subsection (4), “national agent” and “election agent” shall be construed as including a person or persons authorised for the purpose of subsection (4) by the said national agent or election agent, as the case may be, and any expenditure incurred or payment made by such person or persons shall be subject to limits which shall be specified in such authorisation.

(6) Where any election expenses (within the meaning of this Part) 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 organization (within the meaning of section 22 (1)) 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 with 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,

such expenses shall be deemed to have been incurred on behalf of the party or candidate concerned and shall be accounted for accordingly by the relevant agent and the provisions of this Part shall apply in relation thereto.

(7) Before incurring any expenses at an election a person (other than the national agent of a political party or the election agent of a candidate or a person authorised by any such agent for the purpose of subsection (4)) who proposes to incur election expenses (within the meaning of this Part), shall furnish to the Public Offices Commission in writing—

(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 the provisions of section 28 (1) and (2), election expenses are incurred by or on behalf of a political party or a candidate at an election before the appointment by the party or the candidate of a national agent or an election agent, as the case may be, the political party or candidate shall furnish to the relevant agent 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 election agent, as the case may be.

(9) Every payment of election expenses made pursuant to this Part shall, where the said payment exceeds £100, be supported by a voucher stating the particulars of the transaction to which it relates.

(10) 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 or a person authorised in writing by such agent, or a candidate at the election or the election agent of such candidate, or a person authorised in writing by such candidate or agent, unless the person produces to the said publisher a certificate from the Public Offices Commission that that person has complied with the provisions of subsection (7) in relation to that election.

(11) This section shall not be construed 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.