I move amendment No. 194:
In page 36, subsection (2), line 42, to delete "29 (1)(b)" and substitute 29(1)(a)".
Section 45 provides that the election expenses which may be incurred by or on behalf of a candidate at a Presidential election shall not exceed the amount specified by order of the Minister. That allows the Minister to set a threshold of expenditure for Presidential elections as is envisaged for Dáil elections. In making such an order, the Minister is required to have regard to the limits specified in section 29 as currently drafted in relation to the expenditure by a political party at national level at European elections and to any change in the consumer price index since such limits came into force. Under the new section 30, inserted by an earlier amendment, the limits for expenditure at a European election are not specified. That section provides that spending limits at European elections shall be set by ministerial order, with some debate.
This amendment provides that the Minister shall have regard to the limits specified in section 29 in relation to expenditure by a candidate at a Dáil election instead of limits on expenditure by a political party at national level at a European election as provided for in the section as drafted. Section 29 is now the only provision in the Bill which specifies a limit and the only limit we have set relates to Dáil elections. In framing the limit allowable for a Presidential election, I had regard to the European election and thought of adding the sum of the constituencies' expenditure. Since we have not specified a limit for European elections, that does not make sense, so I suggest we have regard to the expenditure limits in Dáil elections. This is not simply a matter of mathematics, we will tease it out before we set a limit.
It is not the Government's intention to bring this section into force before January next year. That has implications for the forthcoming election, in that no such spending limits will apply to an election taking place this year. We will have time to be clear.