Labour, PDs, Greens and Sinn Féin: Labour is embarking on a fundraising campaign, albeit with a more modest target, in an attempt to ensure that it has funds for some pre-election campaigning.
It has been building up sufficient funds to meet the expenses of the election campaign itself but, as of now, it is seeking further funds for pre-election activities.
A fundraising committee is headed up by party treasurer barrister Maura Whelan, and includes senior figures such as Pat Rabbitte's chef de cabinet Adrian Langan. "The aim is to raise €100,000," Labour Party general secretary Mike Allen says, pointing out that Fianna Fáil spent 10 times what Labour did in the run-up to the 2002 general election.
According to Mr Allen, Labour has been effectively "saving up" for the election campaign itself, which he believes will cost the party €750,000.
Some years ago, the party created a "rolling fund" where it builds up resources to fight elections.
In terms of its day-to-day non-electoral activities, it survives on State funding, setting aside a significant proportion of the voluntary contributions it receives. In terms of non-State income, it gets in the region of €500,000 a year, including up to €95,000 in trade union affiliation fees.
It receives €75,000 in membership dues, €2,000 from each of its TDs and senators, and €2,000 from each of its constituency organisations.
Progressive Democrats: The party is coy about how much it hopes to raise and spend but it is in the middle of a fundraising campaign. Last Friday, the annual fundraising lunch at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin raised approximately €45,000.
At an auction after the meal, one individual paid €3,000 for the privilege of having a lunch for four in Leinster House hosted by Michael McDowell.
The PDs are building a war chest through fundraising events like lunches, raffles and golf classics.
The money will be spent on billboards, leaflets and candidates when the campaign proper kicks in.
Greens: To date, the Green Party has made a virtue of not fundraising. Indeed, it is the only party in the country to have a ban on corporate donations.
It does, of course, accept personal donations but in the main these have been small in amount and limited.
The main source of its non-State funding comes from membership fees and annual contributions of more than €5,000 each from its TDs.
The lack of proper resources is an issue for the party, which debated whether it should lift the ban on corporate donations at its annual conference last March. The motion was defeated overwhelmingly.
Sinn Féin: Of all the parties, Sinn Féin is the one which attracts the most curiosity and suspicion.
Speak to any back-room operator from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour or the PDs, and they will remark on the amount of resources the party appears to have.
From leafleting to running full-time constituency offices, officials from other parties claim that such a level of political activity is extremely expensive.
The suggestion, repudiated of course by Sinn Féin, is that some of its funding has to come from the illicit activities of the IRA.
At the height of the Northern Bank raid controversy in early 2005, and in an attempt to dispel this view, Sinn Féin published its accounts which it said showed it cost just under €2 million to run the party in 2003, North and South.
Of this, nearly €1 million came from the British and Irish governments, with the bulk of the remainder from full-time elected representatives.
It also has a network of more than 40 offices in the 32 counties, which are either leased or owned by the party.
The bulk of the party's fundraising still takes place abroad, mainly in the US, where it often raises in excess of €200,000 in any given year.
However, under Irish law, parties are prohibited from using funds raised abroad from people who are not Irish citizens, meaning that these funds have to be spent in Northern Ireland.
Sinn Féin is the latest party to attempt to portray the issue of funding as secondary to that of activism.
Yet in all of its recent elections, Sinn Féin has spent the maximum allowed, such as in last year's byelection in Meath. In 2002, the party spent more than €500,000 during the election, double the expenditure of the Green Party.