Political funding in Ireland has re-emerged as an issue of public policy quite recently when in 2012 the Electoral Act of 1997 was amended to cover basic needs of transparency and control.
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Public support
Ireland provides free broadcasting time for all parties which nominated a minimum number of candidates. The allocation formula seeks to give fair opportunities to all parties, taking into account the number of candidates presented and the share of votes polled in the previous election. Because 'Irish politicians cannot buy time on the broadcast media', independent candidates are granted by law 'some coverage in the news'. In addition, there is a subsidy for current party operations. In a per capita comparison of six countries it has turned out that Ireland is the most generous provider of public support to its parties.
Spending
A recent study of general political spending levels has found (on a per capita basis) that Ireland was almost in line with Canada, slightly ahead of the United States and much more so of Australia and the United Kingdom. Quite in line with developments in other established democracies, Irish party headquarters have stepped up their routine activities and shifted their budgets accordingly, Salaries, wages and benefits comprise about one-third of party headquarters' annual spending.
Regulation
There is a ban on foreign donations. The legal maximum for anonymous donations is set at €127, rather low when compared to other countries. The annual maximum for all donors is €6,350 per party and €2,540 per parliamentary candidate. A late start among political finance reformers has enabled Ireland to link public subsidies for party activity with financial incentives to generally encourage gender equality within the parties. This will be achieved by a legal prescription that parties will face a 50 per cent cut of their public subsidy unless at least 30 per cent of all candidates are women and at least 30 per cent are men. Moreover, Irish parties must apply some part of their subsidy to a variety of specified purposes, among them promoting youth and female political participation. Since no further clarification is provided, this may simply refer to the operation of separate women's and youth groups, which is a traditional feature of many parties. The financial reports filed by the three major parties for 2011 show that Fianna Fáil spent €7,50 for the purpose, but Fine Gael no more than €152. The Labour Party seems to differ considerably, because it spent €61,107 to promote female participation (although almost three-quarters of this total was spent on 'salaries and pensions').
Enforcement
The Standards in Public Office Commission has jurisdiction over party and candidate financing. International IDEA conveys the impression that hitherto it has displayed respectful neglect of all "big fish" donations, which tend to go unreported. Without presenting evidence for its deviating view, the GRECO report on Ireland assigns a much more positive evaluation to 'the proactive advisory role played by the Standards Commission to promote transparency of party funding'.