I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the Electoral Act, 1997 (Section 33) Order, 1999, and the European Parliament Election (Reimbursement of Expenses) Regulations, 1999, copies of which, in draft, were laid before Dáil Éireann on 24th February, 1999.
I thank the House for agreeing to take both motions together. The draft regulations and draft order are directly related.
The draft order and draft regulations are laid before the House in accordance with section 33 (3) of the Electoral Act, 1997, in the case of the draft order and section 21, (3) of the same Act in the case of the draft regulations. The Act pro vides that, where an order or regulations are proposed to be made, a draft of each shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order or regulations shall not be made until resolutions approving the drafts have been passed by each House.
In relation to the limitation of European election expenses, section 33 of the Electoral Act, 1997, as amended by the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1998, provides that the aggregate of election expenses which may be incurred by or on behalf of a candidate in connection with his or her candidature at a European election shall not exceed the relevant amount specified for the constituency by the Minister by order. Section 33 of the 1997 Act commenced on 1 January 1998 but it requires the draft order under discussion to be agreed by both Houses of the Oireachtas before it is operative.
Before deciding on the amount to be specified, a number of possible scenarios for determining an expenditure limit were examined. Regard was had to the amounts included in the Electoral Bill, 1994, when it was published. These provisions were subsequently omitted on Committee Stage at the Select Committee on Finance and General Affairs in March and April of 1997. The amounts then specified would have provided the following expenditure limits per candidate if the political party expenditure was divided equally among its candidates in a constituency: in a three seater, £210,000 for one candidate; £135,000 per candidate if there were two candidates and £100,000 per candidate if there were three candidates; and in a four seater, £230,000 for one candidate; £155,000 per candidate if there were two candidates and £130,000 per candidate if there were three candidates.
Two other methods were examined before a decision on the amount to be specified was taken. In the first, the population ratio between Dáil and European constituencies was applied to the expenditure limits set for Dáil elections in the Electoral Act, 1997. The results, based on a mathematical correlation, were £142,660 in a three seater and £191,420 in a four seater.
An alternative calculation based on the number of Dáil constituencies in each European Parliament constituency resulted in expenditure limits per candidate of £139,000 for a three seater and £188,000 for a four seater.
In summary, the foregoing analysis suggested the following range of possible expenditure limits for three and four seat constituencies for one candidate: three seater – £139,000 to £210,000; and four seater – £188,000 to £230,000.
The draft order before the House proposes that the limit for election expenditure by candidates in the European elections in 1999 should be £140,000 per candidate in each constituency. It is not proposed to set different amounts for the three seat and four seat constituencies. As Deputies are aware the Munster and the Leinster and Dublin constituencies have four members each, while Connacht-Ulster has three members. The £150,000 is inclusive of a candidate's political party expenditure.
Under the Electoral Act, 1997, a political party which authenticates a candidate must appoint a national agent and each candidate must appoint an election agent. The national agent and the election agent will be responsible for furnishing an election expenses statement after the election to the Public Offices Commission. It will be a matter for these officials to ensure any expenditure relating to the European election which is incurred in connection with the local election being held on the same day is accounted for by them. Any other party official, branch or candidate at a local election will have to inform the national agent and-or the election agent at the European election of their intention to incur expenditure in connection with the European election and obtain the agent's authority. It is an offence under the Electoral Act, 1997, for any person to incur election expenses or make a payment, advance or deposit in respect of such expenses at a European election on behalf of a political party or candidate without the authorisation of either the national agent or election agent.
There is no reason there should be problems in accounting for expenditure at the European or local election, but there will no doubt be extra administrative work in keeping records, etc. The following persons in particular will have responsibilities at the elections: the national agent for a political party at the European election, the election agent for a candidate at the European election, the national agent of a political party at the local election, the designated person of a political party at the local election and the candidate at the local election.
It will be the responsibility of these persons to keep records, to furnish election expenses statements, including statutory declaration, that the statements are to the best of the person's knowledge and belief correct in every material respect and that he or she has taken all reasonable action to be satisfied as to the accuracy of the statements.
In relation to election expenditure, the definition of election expenses at the European election will be the same as at a Dáil election. The period for the purpose of disclosing expenditure will be the period between the date of the Minister's polling day order, which I expect will be made not later than 7 May, and polling day. In addition, any election expenditure incurred before the polling day order for use during the election period must be disclosed in the election expenses statement to the Public Offices Commission. I understand the commission will shortly issue guidelines for political parties and candidates.
Turning to reimbursement of expenses, section 21 of the Electoral Act, 1997, as amended by the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1998, provides that the Minister may make regulations providing for the reimbursement of election expenses of candi dates at a European election and may make provisions corresponding to the provisions relating to the reimbursement of election expenses of candidates at a Dáil election, subject to any modification appearing to the Minister to be appropriate.
The 1997 Act provides for the reimbursement of a candidate's actual election expenses for a Dáil election up to a maximum of £5,000, if a candidate's votes exceed one quarter of the quota. In deciding on the maximum amount to be reimbursed, regard was had to the ratio of recoupment to expenditure limits set for a Dáil election. These ratios are 36 per cent, 29 per cent and 25 per cent for a three, four or five seat constituency. The draft regulations propose that the maximum amount to be reimbursed at the European election is £30,000 or 20 per cent of the expenditure limit. The cost, based on the number of candidates who exceeded one quarter of the quota at the 1994 European elections, will be approximately £1 million. I commend the draft order and the draft regulations to the House.
