Corporate donations - Outright ban needed

AS the remnants of Fianna Fáil strive to put clear water between their newfound, clean-cut party image and the toxic ethos of dig-outs and brown envelopes of the infamous Galway tent, Fine Gael and Labour risk being tarnished with the old FF brush.

Opposition leader Micheál Martin has accused the Government of deliberately delaying new laws on corporate donations in order to amass an election war chest, a charge rejected by Environment Minister Phil Hogan who has challenged all other parties to publish their accounts in full, FG-style.

Under their joint Programme for Government, the coalition partners agreed last March to ban corporate donations. Falling short of an outright ban, the legislation framed by the minister would lower the declaration threshold for donations from €5,078.95 to €1,500.

Given the risk of veiled multiple donations being made on behalf of companies with vested interests in government decisions, the proper action would be an outright ban. Otherwise, suspicions over possible breaches of corporate donation law will dog all the parties, intensifying public cynicism about politics.