Comments on: Proposals for funding reform

By: Green Party, donations, anti-corruption policy… – The Story

Green Party, donations, anti-corruption policy… – The Story — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:22:07 +0000

[...] I have said time and again; our current system would work well if the disclosure thresholds were simply lowered or [...]

By: John McDermott

John McDermott — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:12:39 +0000

does paying the printing bill for a politicians election posters-for example-have to be recorded as a political donation?
or writing lots of small cheques and paying with them?
There will always be a ruse or a dodge or a stratagem to avoid disclosure unless every penny has to be accounted for.

By: The confessions of Ahern and Cowen – The Story

The confessions of Ahern and Cowen – The Story — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:22:16 +0000

[...] agree though, it does apply to all parties. Bar, perhaps, the Greens. I wrote about donations reform last week, if you’re interested. Much [...]

By: Mark Coughlan

Mark Coughlan — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:38:49 +0000

Thanks for the reply Nat, apols for the delay in response.

Agreed, at present State funding is small. I agree it’s reasonably democratic, but I’m averse to a system where the only funding comes from the State. Also, thinking about it now, when considering almost €4m of taxpayers money goes to political parties, all the more reason they should be obliged to publish accounts. I think it would also lead to a consistently reinforced status quo. “Radical” would get less and less of a look-in.

By: Nat O'Connor

Nat O'Connor — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:10:37 +0000

Currently State funding is not enormous. Registered parties that get 2 per cent or more of first preference votes get funding. Each party gets c. €125,000, plus a share of a pool of cash (max. €3.8 million) based on the number of first preference votes each party gets.

So, if 2 million people vote, each first preference vote cast is the equivalent of directing €1.90 towards the voter’s most preferred party. I think that’s reasonably democratic. It would be more democratic if people knew that their first preference was also used as a ‘funding vote’.

Source: http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Guidelines/StateFinancing/GuidelinesforPoliticalPartiesonExchequerfundingundertheElectoralActsMarch2009edition

By: Unqualified

Unqualified — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:41:48 +0000

Another source for all this was Olivia O’Leary’s Drivetime radio column yesterday (Tuesday 04/05/10, for posterity). She made the point that publicly funded would automatically mean less money – therefore less consultants, less focus groups, perhaps less stampeding for the centre and pandering to short-termism.
Which would be nice. (“,)