DONATIONS OF JUST over €170,000 were made to Irish political parties last year.
Figures released by the Standards in Public Office Commission today show that Fine Gael received donations totalling €112,625; while Sinn Féin and the Socialist Party received €25,980 and €21,084 respectively.
Each of the 16 political parties registered during 2013 to contest Dáil or European elections was required to furnish a donation statement to the Commission by 31 March last.
All donations in excess of €1,500 were required to be disclosed. The maximum value of donations which a political party could accept from the same donor within a twelve-month period is €2,500.
Six parties made disclosures, totalling €171,644. Fianna Fáil and Labour did not, indicating they did not receive any donations exceeding €1,500.
Two parties – the Catholic Democrats and the Communist Party of Ireland – failed to furnish the required documentation to the Commission by the specified date.
The Communist Party of Ireland has not yet submitted the required statutory documentation and the Commission referred a file on the matter to the Gardaí on 19 May.
Below is a summary of the 2013 bank statements of Fine Gael, Labour,Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Green Party.
The Socialist Party and the Workers and Unemployed Action group both received donations in excess of the maximum permitted amount but the additional €49 and €2,060 respectively were returned to the donors and documentary evidence of this was submitted to the Standards Commission.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say