CAMPAIGN SPENDING:A SPOKESMAN for the Libertas campaign against the Lisbon Treaty has rejected an estimate by Fianna Fáil that it has spent €1.8 million on its campaign.
John McGuirk, communications director with Libertas, said the amount being spent was closer to the €1.3 million it had already stated it intended to spend.
That amount exceeds the combined spend of all the major political parties campaigning for the treaty. Mr McGuirk said Libertas would go no further than to comply with its disclosure obligations under the law, and accepted that this meant the sources of the Libertas money would not be disclosed.
He rejected a claim by Fianna Fáil that its distribution of 35,000 copies of a book called The Lisbon Treaty: the Readable Version, was a breach of the law. The book is published by the Brussels-based Foundation for European Democracy. Kathy Sinnott MEP and former MEP Patricia McKenna are on the institute's board.
Under Irish law, bodies involved in political campaigns cannot accept donations from foreign corporate bodies unless the donor keeps an office in Ireland from which one of its principal activities is directed. They also cannot accept more than €6,348 from an individual donor in any one year.
According to the Standards in Public Office Commission, a donation includes "a donation of property or goods". Mr McGuirk said the 35,000 copies of the book distributed by Libertas did not constitute a donation. "We distributed material on its [the institute's] behalf. You will note, I am sure, that the books do not contain any political branding or messaging and are an exercise in public information, facilitated by us, at the request of the foundation."
Fianna Fáil spokesman Peter McDonagh said the law was clear on the matter and there was no "wriggle room". He said Fianna Fáil had monitored and costed the various aspects of the Libertas campaign and believed it has cost at least €1.8 million.
He said Libertas had also received the free services in 2007 of two employees of Rivada Networks, an Irish subsidiary of a US parent which sells communications technology to the US military. He said this also constituted a breach of the law as the law limits the amount that can be received from an individual donor in any one year, and prohibits donations from foreign corporate bodies save in certain conditions.
Mr McGuirk suggested that The Irish Timesinquire about the source of the money being spent by the Alliance for Europe, which he said had a budget of between €700,000 and €1 million.
Brendan Kiely, a director of the Alliance for Europe, said it would spend approximately €600,000 on its campaign and was funding its campaign from donations.
Mr Kiely said each donation received by the alliance was lodged separately to its dedicated account to show it did not breach the €6,348 threshold.
He offered to show a statement on the account to The Irish Timesand challenged Libertas to do the same. Mr McGuirk said it would not be doing so.