Ireland’s largest trade union spent just €15,000 from a €1.3 million political donations fund, according to accounts for 2024.
The record of Siptu’s spend on political donations for last year was recently lodged with the Register of Friendly Societies, which is the central holder of statutory information for trade unions and certain other bodies.
There were European and local elections in June 2024, as well as a general election in November. Siptu’s annual returns cover only the two held in June, as the latter came too late for payments to be processed that year.
The union’s political fund, to which almost 130,000 of its members contribute, increased in value by almost €100,000 over the course of the year despite the various elections.
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Siptu tends to only back candidates with strong links to the union, usually via actual membership. Just one candidate running in the Europeans – People Before Profit’s Cian Prendiville from Limerick – was financially backed, with a donation worth €950.
For the local elections, donations of €595 went to 22 candidates, 15 of whom ran for the Labour Party. The remaining seven included contenders running for Sinn Féin, the Workers’ Party, the Social Democrats and the Green Party.
It is understood that just a handful of general election candidates, including Labour’s Marie Sherlock and Duncan Smith, would have received support, and this again would have involved modest amounts.
The union says the fund is also available to be used for campaigns it runs. However, there were no other outgoings in 2024.
The documents show that the union’s membership declined by about 5,000 in each of the past two years and stood at 193,508 at the end of last year. The membership tally is understood to include a range of member categories, including those who have retired but maintain their membership without paying full subscription rates.
Siptu says a rise in subscriptions is a better indication of active members. This increased last year, from €32.2 million to €32.5 million. However, the higher amount is almost the same as the figure for 2014 when the all-categories membership figure was 210,670.
In 2019 subscription fees totalled €33.8 million, and there were 211,855 members. Covid presented big challenges.
The union’s industrial contingency, or strike fund, contained €19.2 million by the end of 2024, while there is almost €10 million set aside for the modernisation of Siptu’s headquarters at Liberty Hall in Dublin.
Overall, the accounts record net assets of about €53 million across a range of funds and an operating surplus of €1.17 million for the year.
Staff costs accounted for €23.9 million, of which a third (just short of €8 million) was contributions to the union’s defined benefit scheme. In a 2022 review, this scheme was found to have a €20 million deficit and therefore was in need of additional payments.
Over the course of 2024, Siptu employed an average of 250 staff, down from 267 in 2023. The organisation’s four most senior personnel together cost €610,000, the accounts indicate.
