Fianna Fβil gave the straightest answers to questions about their election spending plans: they have £200,000 in the bank, will get £90,000 more in January from the National Draw, and plan to raise a massive £2.5 million more before the election - and all, hopefully, without borrowing.
They, like Fine Gael, will rely heavily on donations from the business sector, although in Fine Gael's case their self-imposed ban on corporate donations means they can receive money from business only as donations from individuals, not companies.
While controversies of recent years and legislation on funding have made it more difficult to raise the substantial sums given in the past, both Fianna Fβil and Fine Gael hope to reach their targets without going into debt.
Fine Gael declined to say how much they had raised so far. Labour and the Progressive Democrats responded - somewhat surprisingly - that they don't know how much they have at this stage.
New spending limits coming into force on January 1st allow parties to spend £20,000 per candidate in a three-seat constituency, £25,000 in a four-seater and £30,000 in a five-seater. Fianna Fβil, Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats say they will spend their maximum allowed by law. This will allow them to spend £2.7 million, £2 million and £450,000 respectively. Labour, the Greens and Sinn FΘin maintain they will spend less than their legal limit.
Business people are expected to give Fianna Fβil and Fine Gael substantial sums in the coming months. While Fine Gael has said it will not take corporate donations, it is likely to attract a significant amount in donations from business people in a private capacity.
Labour, in contrast, says it will spend substantially below the £1.25 million it is allowed under the Electoral Act. Much of this will come from fundraising among members and union affiliation fees, Labour says. A spokesman said he could not say how much had been raised for the election campaign so far, because of the recent changes in legislation governing party funding.
Sinn FΘin says it will spend under £200,000, most of which has been raised already. The Green Party expects to spend under £100,000. Both parties say most of their funding will come from local small-scale fundraising.
The legislation allows parties to spend money according to the number of candidates they have. The parties therefore do a deal whereby a proportion of the money allocated per candidate is spent on a national campaign involving party political broadcasts, press advertising, press launches and a party leader's national tour. Most parties have a 50/50 or 60/40 divide between the national campaign and the individual candidates' campaigns.
Fianna Fβil's spokesman expressed scepticism over claims by other parties, particularly the Labour Party, that they will not spend up to their limit. According to Labour's general secretary, Mr Mike Allen, "the spending limits are totally academic to us". The party spend would be well below the £1.25 million to which it is entitled, he maintained.
Labour is to run 49 candidates in the 42 constituencies, entitling it to spend about £1.25 million. Some 40 per cent of the total is allocated to the central party campaign, allowing head office to spend £0.5 million. In reality, according to Mr Allen, they would probably spend only £150,000 on a national campaign including press launches, party political broadcasts, the leader's tour, billboards and so on.
A further £150,000 will be spent by Labour head office on posters, leaflets and canvassing material for distribution to constituencies where the party is running candidates. The money for this will come from the constituencies.
He said he could not say how much would be spent in individual constituencies.
"But the spending limits are totally academic to us," he says, as the party would not have the money to come close to them. None of the constituencies would spend up to the limit to which they are entitled, he said. Even Dublin South East, the constituency of the leader, Mr Ruair∅ Quinn, and among the best funded, would not spend the £25,000 it is allowed, he predicted.
The Green Party says it expects to spend under £100,000, most of which will be raised locally by individual candidates and party organisations. "We don't take any corporate funding," according to a party spokesman. "We rely a lot on fivers and tenners from individuals, and our four full-time public representatives also contribute money to the party."
Centrally, the party will spend between £15,000 and £20,000, including close to £4,000 on a party political broadcast, with the remainder on press launches, posters and other national events. The party will have 15 to 20 candidates around the State. Between five and 10 constituencies are seen as targets, according to a party spokesman, and perhaps £7,000 will be spent in each of these, he says. Other candidates running to "fly the flag" or build for the future are likely to spend £3,000 each or less.
Sinn FΘin plans to spend under £200,000, running up to 25 candidates in 23 constituencies. "We'll be spending £5,000 to £10,000 in each constituency," says a spokeswoman. "We wouldn't afford to spend any more."
Most of this money has already been raised, she said, and much has been spent on posters and canvass cards. Up to 80 per cent of this money will be raised in local constituencies "through the usual fundraising methods", she says.
While the party receives substantial sums from the United States and elsewhere, she said none of this would be spent on the election campaign. The general party funds were separate from the election spending.
The proceeds of this year's fundraising dinner in New York were given to a benevolent fund for victims of the September 11th attacks on the US, she said. This dinner normally raises $300,000 to $400,000, most of which goes to fund the party's North American offices and pays for trips to the US by Sinn FΘin leaders. Around $44,000 accrued to Sinn FΘin in Ireland from that dinner in 2000, she said, compared with $117,000 in 1999.
The party will organise a smaller fundraising dinner in the US in the spring but, the spokeswoman maintained, this will not be spent on the election campaign.