Failure of National Party to submit financial information will not result in sanction - SIPO

The National Party has never submitted details of party finances to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), but the political watchdog says it has no power to penalise the party.

It comes after gardaí recovered gold bars worth an estimated €400,000 after being contacted by the right-wing party’s leader Justin Barrett, who said it had been stolen from a vault.

In a post on social media, he said a “considerable quantity” of gold, which “formed the main party’s reserves”, had been taken. Explaining the source of the gold, he said it was “dearly gathered by the sacrifice of party members and supporters over these many years”.

Under the Electoral Act, every political party is required to declare any annual political donations received either by the party, or a subsidiary organisation of that party, in excess of €1,500 from an individual or corporate donor. The limit per donor is €2,500. Foreign donations are banned.

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Furthermore, every political party is also required to send Sipo an annual statement of accounts, which must be audited by a statutory auditor.

“To date, the National Party has not provided a statement of accounts to the Commission for any year in which it has had these obligations and the Commission has noted this in its reports on political parties’ statements of accounts,” a Sipo spokesman said on Tuesday.

However, the watchdog indicated that there are no penalties for a failure to send annual accounts. “The current legislation does not provide for sanctions or penalties for noncompliance with the obligations regarding statement of accounts.”

Gardaí are now seeking to establish who is the legal owner of the gold and will examine legislation and, if possible, documentation. A Garda spokesman confirmed that enquiries into “an allegation of theft from a premises in Dublin 4″ are under way.

Mr Barrett said the gold was there “in case of a mishap in general or, more particularly, a collapse in the value of fiat currency”. A fiat currency is one that is decreed and backed by a government.

The party, which has no sitting TDs or senators, has not responded to request for comment.