Madam, - The funding of political parties is an important issue in a democracy. In Ireland its importance has come into prominence recently because the Taoiseach resigned arising out of controversy about donations he was alleged to have received while holding public office.
In addition, the report of the Standards in Public Office Commission on donations to public representatives (Home News, April 23rd) and Elaine Byrne's article on the topic (Opinion & Analysis, same date) highlight this vital issue.
Harry McGee's report tells us that "the donations actually declared amount to only a fraction of the actual funds raised by candidates", since "the vast majority of donations falls below the threshold above which declaration is mandatory". He also informs us that "almost half" of the TDs in the Dáil "furnished nil donation statements for 2007". The report of the Standards in Public Office Commission would seem, therefore, to be so incomplete as to be worthless.
Meanwhile, Elaine Byrne, whom we are told is "a political analyst and expert in political corruption", tells us that "we do not know the annual income of political parties". Even more intriguing is her statement that in 2007 "approximately €10 million in donations are undisclosed".
This situation is clearly unsatisfactory. The solution eludes me. It is, however, an issue of such importance that it merits urgent attention from all political parties. At a minimum I would have thought that political parties should have to produce audited annual accounts. - Yours, etc,
A LEAVY, Shielmartin Drive, Sutton, Dublin 13.