Some unions contribute. The party has that facility and I have no difficulty with it. However, other political parties do not have it. If the Bill is to be equitable and fair, levies cannot be placed on members in organisations to direct them to pay their funds to a particular political party. There must be a level playing field and the Bill must be examined to ensure it is equitable in that regard. I do not consider it is equitable. I do not take exception to the position of the Labour Party; I am only making a comparison.
Deputy Ring mentioned the abolition of national collections. However, such collections provide an opportunity to people to make a contribution in public outside the church gate or at their houses to collectors from various political parties. Collections provide an opportunity for people to indicate their preference for or acknowledgement of the work being done by political parties. They are a barometer of the support available to parties and should not be abolished.
Each political party in the House has administrative headquarters in Dublin. The offices of the headquarters of the two main parties are within a few metres of each other and each party pays at least £100,000 annually in rates to Dublin Corporation by virtue of the fact that their offices are located in the city; I cannot account for other parties. There cannot be a situation whereby the other resources available to parties to fund their staff, administration, management and organisational regulation costs are cut off. This work takes place in the headquarters in the capital city and supports the maintenance of democracy in this country. People should not be denied the opportunity to become involved in political parties.
I expect the funds which become available under this Bill will be used for research and back-up facilities and to provide modern resources, mechanisms and machinery to enable political parties to match those of the professional organisations, lobby groups and interest groups. These groups are armed with vast resources from their membership of various bodies. For example, corporate entities must make major contributions to become a member of various organisations. Farmers make contributions at all the livestock and processing outlets to various farming organisations. This allows the organisations to employ professionals to provide documentation for them, produce scripts and prepare questions for their meetings with politicians when they come to make their cases. This is their right.
Politicians are elected by the people and we are the only group ultimately answerable to them. Every citizen is answerable to the laws of the land but politicians are the only people answerable to the national jury which decides whether we are fit to continue to represent them. They do this by consensus and democracy by deciding who ought to be in Government. This is democracy at its best and we have an excellent Constitution. Ireland's democracy is probably the broadest in the world and many people forget that ultimately power rests with the individual and collectively with the people of the nation. This is as it should be forever and it is why our political system has been so successful over the years.
As a small nation, with just over three million people, we run one of the most modern countries in the world. Our standard of living is comparable to any other country despite some differences in standards and services. We always work to achieve goals which would improve everybody's lot. Ireland is a young nation which only achieved freedom this century and it has come on in leaps and bounds as a result of the ingenuity, commitment, resilience and resourcefulness of each individual in the country. This applies across the world and Irish people, no matter where they go, have the ability to respond to opportunities. They take pride in their survival, commitment and standards. They make a contribution to themselves, their families and ultimately to their country or adopted country. Such people are the reason for our success.
I listened with great interest to the contributions of Deputies Molloy and Quill and Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. Deputies Molloy and Quill were worried about small parties. They were members of a large party at one stage and they would not have to worry about such aspects if they had remained members of it. It concerns me that the Bill appears to be designed to enable a critical analysis and audit of the performance of the large political parties. It is also designed to ensure that Independents receive a contribution on a pro rata basis with other parties. If an Independent Deputy receives a cash resource from the State to support him or her in their efforts for re-election and to survive in politics, that individual will receive more benefits pro rata than the collective contribution a large amount of money will make to a large political party. The advantage of the Bill tilts in favour of the individual and not of the political party, this is worrying.
I smiled at the response of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte which he made in a serious, measured and gracious way. He was also a member of a large political party. When he entered third level education, he got involved in Sinn Féin, the Workers' Party. He entered the Dáil as a member of the Workers' Party and he is now a member of honourable Democratic Left. He certainly has made a number of leaps during his political career. He is happy in his present cosy position, although I do not know what his future options will be. I was interested to hear his contribution and comments on this Bill. However, he might have made a different statement if he was in Opposition. The Bill is not advantageous to practising, full time professional politicians. It refers to auditing the expenses of a political party during an election campaign and puts certain limits on what can be spent. It falls short for those who may have the resources to go forward for election but may not be elected. The Bill is harsh on people who will subsequently be elected and will weaken those who may not be elected.
I fought six elections in 13 years. I fought my first by-election in July 1982 and was elected to represent Galway East on 20 July 1982. I was shocked by the bills I had run up. I had not expected the election to cost me anything like it did. The total bill for that by-election, which had to be paid out of my pocket came to in excess of £8,000. I was busy during the campaign and had a number of people canvassing for me. I told them I would look after the bills and signed my name to them. I did not have the money to pay.
I was elected to this House during the recess but when I was about to make my maiden speech, as an innocent young backbencher, the then Chief Whip of my party, Deputy Bertie Ahern, told me I could not do so because the Dáil would collapse in an hour. The then Minister for Finance, Deputy MacSharry, would be the last to speak. Having been in this House for one day, I was out contesting another general election. Within three months of being elected, I was fighting my second election and again, I did my best to survive. When the bills came to me at the end of that election, I did not have the resources to pay them. I had an overdraft of £9,000 to pay the earlier bills. My second election campaign cost me in excess of £4,500 and I had to go back to the bank again. Unfortunately, my bank account is not in any better shape today. In fact, it has deteriorated. These bills were for personal expenses such as food, petrol and other things any family would need during a time when a large number of people were working for me on a political campaign.
Will I be asked to account for those items in the future, apart from my political party being asked to account for its publicity, advertising, printing etc? This is where I see major difficulties in this Bill. Nobody can block the rights of an individual. There are serious implications for individual politicians, especially full-time politicians. What about the big business person who has vast resources, a huge staff and a big empire who may want, to become a Member of the national Parliament? He can use those resources to bolster his campaign and ensure election. He can have election expenses accounted for through a corporate entity. How will he be made accountable and how can we, as people committed to the political and democratic system, compete with that?
There is a grave distortion and serious consequences, inequities and a lack of transparency in the Bill. It is bordering on the undemocratic to ensure that some people have to account while others, because they are in a different position do not have to account in the same way. This Bill falls far short on that matter.
I am not happy that full-time politicians should have to go through this process. We are elected in trust by the people. They trust us to perform and represent them and to work for the common good. They are the jury. If they feel we are good enough to represent them, they will continue to trust and reelect us. If not, they will make their decision carefully and cruelly by removing anybody they feel is not discharging his obligations on their behalf. It is an invasion on the rights of the professional politicians to subject them to these parameters in their efforts to serve their people and be re-elected. I welcome a number of measures in this Bill, such as the independent commission. I am proud to be from the first Irish political party to have introduced an independent commission. The former Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, was the first to propose one. The commission has been expanded under this Bill.
The people involved in this political process have no track record of being elected. I agree with Deputy Ring and I have no difficulty with public servants because we have an excellent public service at all levels. We are fortunate to have them but people who have gone through the system, who understand its exigencies and difficulties and the geographics and demographics of proper representation should be involved in a proposal like this. If that is not possible, I would like to see the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, or former holders of those positions on the Commission. I welcome the independent commission.
There has been a great demand for voting rights to emigrants and we should recognise the role they can play. They have a great interest in our country. For example, Irish-Americans have made, and are making, a great contribution towards ensuring that the peace process succeeds. We must consider representation for them while we cannot allow our democratic structure to be distorted. We could consider a Seanad electorate Bill that would allow the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia to have a representative. Something along those lines would be good for international and foreign relations and the link to our emigrants. That is the road we should take.
I hope my points will be taken into consideration by the Minister and that he will allay my fears. He should ensure there is no distortion or inequity between those committed to professional political representation and those who have an interest in it for other reasons.
