Call for law to control referendum campaign funds

LEGISLATION TO control the amount of money spent on referendum campaigns should be introduced, a Dáil committee was told yesterday.

Dr Gavin Barrett, UCD School of Law, said he had concerns about the use of "extremely large sums of money emanating from one or a few individuals" being used to finance one side of a campaign. "It does not enhance democracy."

Nicholas Rees, professor of international politics at Liverpool Hope University, said those with the largest "war chest" were in the greatest position to put their case across. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution was established to review the framework governing the referendum process. Chaired by Seán Ardagh TD, it has examined the effect of Supreme Court judgments on how referendums are carried out, including the McKenna and Coughlan cases.

In McKenna, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of public funds by the Government to influence a Yes vote was an interference with the democratic and constitutional process.

Dr Barrett said a level playing pitch could just as easily be disrupted by private investment as it could be by Government investment. He said the McKenna judgment crippled the Government's right to persuade the public of its cause and led to the emergence of groups such as Libertas.

He said a prohibition or legislative control on private financing should be considered. A further judgment, in the Coughlan case, which said both sides of a referendum should be given equality in terms of broadcasting, had the effect of neutralising the role of political leaders, Dr Barrett said.

Mr Rees said the Lisbon referendum was unusual in that a significant amount of money was spent by private individuals. He said there were grounds to say that both sides in a referendum debate should be publicly funded.

"This area needs to be regulated and treated cautiously," he said.

He also said the role of the Referendum Commission needed to be rethought because it had proved to be "hamstrung" in the Lisbon debate and was not able to counter the "untruths" put forward by the No campaign. He also said the information circulated by the commission to households in advance of the referendum "was uninteresting and hardly excited the public imagination".

Labour Senator Alex Whitesaid said any changes the committee recommended would not just affect EU treaties, but would also cover other referendum issues.