FG seeks £1,000 limit on political donations

A private members’ Bill outlawing corporate donations and limiting contributions from individuals was published by Fine Gael this afternoon.

Mr Michael Noonan

Party leader Mr Michael Noonan said the Bill allowed a maximum of £1,000 to be donated to a political party in one year. The document also proposes that political donations can only be made by citizens resident in the State.

The Bill was drafted to exclude donations from overseas to prevent "an intrusion into the democratic process", said Mr Noonan.

He said making a donation of over £1,000 or, if a company made a contribution using an individual as an intermediary, would become illegal – as would accepting it.

He said the Bill, which will be presented to the Dáil tomorrow, was driven by the stalling of the Labour Party legislation at the select committee stage.

Mr Noonan said his legal advice indicated there was no constitutional impediment to banning corporate donations. The constitution enshrined the individual’s right to assembly and the freedom to contribute to a political party. However, a company was not an individual said Mr Noonan and so corporate donations could be banned.

The Bill also proposes to change the current law on the disclosure of political donations requiring yearly donations in excess of £4,000 to be revealed to the Public Offices Commission. The new proposals suggest that donations in excess of £500 must be disclosed.

Fine Gael's justice spokesman Mr Alan Shatter said the party was seeking to introduce a system where if the individual limit of £1,000 was exceeded, the extra money would be sent to the Public Offices Commission for distribution to charity.