Parties must find way to abide by rules on funding

THE funding of political parties has long been a closely guarded secret. However, the corruption and abuse of power this has engendered over the years has become an all too familiar story.

The McCracken, the Mahon, and the Moriarty tribunals exposed a culture of clandestine payments to politicians from businesspeople and other interested parties.

While efforts have been made to improve standards — through the Ethics in Public Office Act in 1995 and the setting up of the Standards in Public Office (Sipo) Commission in 2001 — the system is still not as transparent as the public would like.