THE provisions of the Electoral Bill will only apply to a limited extent in this election, and the full provisions may never apply at all.
Under the Bill, candidates in this election may not raise more than £500 from individual supporters without declaring it, and the political parties may not raise more than £4,000 without similarly making it public.
In future elections - if the Coalition is still in power - candidates will face limits on their expenditure. This will range from £14,000 in a three seat constituency to £20,000 in a five seater.
This means that in future candidates will have to keep careful accounts of their expenditure and income, which is one reason both Fianna Fail and the PDs opposed the Bill. According to the PDs' Michael McDowell, it introduces an amount of unworkable bureaucracy into electioneering. He told the Dail that where more than one party candidate was standing in a constituency it would prove impossible to disentangle the expenditure of each.
In order to compensate for the anticipated fall in donations as a result of its regulations, the Bill also provides for public funding for political parties and candidates. Candidates who reach a quarter of a quota will be reimbursed by up to £5,000.
This will encourage independents and some of the smaller parties to contest elections, as bank managers might be more willing to advance loans to, for example, someone who had a council seat, on the basis that the candidate was likely to achieve at least a quarter of a quota.
This is also opposed by Fianna Fail and the PDs, and Mr McDowell predicted that these provisions, and the limits on expenditure, would never be implemented. This prediction assumes they will form a government after the election.