The introduction of expenditure limits at local elections was considered during the passage of the Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act 1999 through both Houses. It was decided not to introduce limits given the fundamental difference between local and other elections in terms of scale. For example, there were 3,085 candidates at the local elections in June 1999. This compares with 42 at the European elections held on the same day and 463 at the 2002 general election. Similarly for constituencies, there are 268 local electoral areas compared to 42 Dáil and four European Parliament constituencies.
Experience has show that local authority candidates do not spend significant amounts of money. The introduction of limits would create additional bureaucratic procedures which are not justified in their case.
The regime which operated at the 1999 local elections and will apply, with minor amendments, at the 2004 polls is a local scheme appropriate to local elections. It is less costly, less bureaucratic and simpler to operate than the scheme for general and European Parliament elections, yet it still embodies the important reporting and disclosure principles of the Electoral Act 1997 for donations and expenditure.
For the reasons stated, I do not regard the differences between general elections and local elections in this regard as anomalous and I have no proposals to align the regimes involved further.