Parties reap €12.7m in funds from exchequer
The Standards in Public Office Commission report revealed vivid differences between the main parties’ priorities as the general election loomed ever larger on the horizon.
Fianna Fáil sank the biggest amount into PR, Fine Gael was obsessed by private polling, and, perhaps fearing electoral oblivion awaited, the PDs were the keenest to have a party.
Payments from the Leaders’ Allowance and electoral acts funds were doled out in proportion to the share of the vote and Oireachtas numbers. The money, which CJ Haughey used to dip into for his luxury shirts from Paris, cannot be used for electioneering and is intended to keep the wheels of democracy in motion.
Fianna Fáil took the biggest slice of €4,903,423, Fine Gael got €3,364,921, Labour €2,082,391, the PDs €835,358, the Greens €704,436 and Sinn Féin €773,246.
The Socialist Party’s sole TD in the last Dáil, Joe Higgins, received €64,212 under the Leaders’ Allowance, while independent TDs and Senators gained by €610,000.
Fianna Fáil spent €228,174 of their Party Leaders Allowance on transport for members last year, compared with €46,959 by Fine Gael, while Mr Higgins used only €151 for that reason.
The PDs were the largest spenders of State money on entertainment, using €5,059 of their grant for that purpose, while Labour spent €4,107, followed by Fianna Fáil on €2,854.
Fine Gael spent €283,000 of public money polling voters to see how it was coming across to the public — 80% of the amount used for such a purpose by all six big parties.
Fianna Fáil used €428,000 of taxpayers’ cash to pay private consultants and PR experts. FG’s bill in the same area was €187,000, while SF was the third-biggest spender with €56,000.
The PDs and FF were alone in spending nothing on trying to increase female participation in politics, the other parties used €150,000 of State money doing this.
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