A complaint against the deputy Fine Gael leader, Mr Jim Mitchell, has been made to the Public Offices Commission concerning a privately commissioned poll on his party's leadership.
In a letter a Fianna Fail deputy, Mr Sean Fleming, said he wished to make a complaint concerning the private use of opinion polls by Mr Mitchell as part of his campaign to be leader of Fine Gael. This required investigation in the public interest to establish whether a breach of the Electoral Act had occurred.
"I believe it is a matter of considerable concern to the Oireachtas that the free donation of services can be availed of by deputies without either disclosing the donor and in violation of the spirit if not the letter of the prevailing rules," he said.
Mr Fleming said it was of particular concern that it appeared that at the time Mr Mitchell received the benefits of this opinion poll, the donors were anonymous to him. He asked the commission to consider the matter in light of Section 23 of the Electoral Act, 1997, which makes it illegal for a member of the Dail to directly or through an intermediary accept any anonymous donation exceeding £100.
This section, he pointed out, requires that any such donation is handed over to the commission within 14 days and makes it a criminal offence to fail to do so.