Big parties benefit from poll-spending limit hike

[David Cochrane]

ELECTION candidates will now be allowed to spend a massive €45,000 in the three short weeks of the general election campaign, an increase of €7,100.

And the amount of election expenses paid back to every candidate who gets at least a quarter of the votes required to get elected, is also rising to €8,700.

The new spending limits for the 2007 general election are €30,150 for a candidate in a three-seat constituency (up from €25,394), €37,650 in a four-seater (up from €31,743) and €42,500 in a five-seater (up from €38,092). The proposed increase, in line with inflation, was supported by Fianna Fail, the Progressive Democrats and Labour. - Irish Independent

[qtman]

ELECTION candidates will now be allowed to spend a massive €45,000 in the three short weeks of the general election campaign, an increase of €7,100.

And the amount of election expenses paid back to every candidate who gets at least a quarter of the votes required to get elected, is also rising to €8,700.

The new spending limits for the 2007 general election are €30,150 for a candidate in a three-seat constituency (up from €25,394), €37,650 in a four-seater (up from €31,743) and €42,500 in a five-seater (up from €38,092). The proposed increase, in line with inflation, was supported by Fianna Fail, the Progressive Democrats and Labour. - Irish Independent

This law is a joke anyway, given that it only applies 3 weeks out.

The real issues is donations, not spending.

[Munion]

Interesting to note as a comparision that Hilary Clinton is reputed to have already raised $1billion as part of her campaign for the Whitehouse.

On RTE last night it was said that candidates are expected to spend €9million in total over the course of GE2007

[Maximus]

ELECTION candidates will now be allowed to spend a massive €45,000 in the three short weeks of the general election campaign, an increase of €7,100.

And the amount of election expenses paid back to every candidate who gets at least a quarter of the votes required to get elected, is also rising to €8,700.

The new spending limits for the 2007 general election are €30,150 for a candidate in a three-seat constituency (up from €25,394), €37,650 in a four-seater (up from €31,743) and €42,500 in a five-seater (up from €38,092). The proposed increase, in line with inflation, was supported by Fianna Fail, the Progressive Democrats and Labour. - Irish Independent

The sentence ‘candidates will now be allowed to spend a massive €45,000 in the three short weeks’ is totally loaded, in most cases candidates have to allocate up to half their budget allocation to the central campaign, leaving a little over €22.500 for the campaign proper, allow for an office €3k, a few posters €10k, literature €5k, some banners €2k and petrol, travel and other expenses and you’ll find ‘the massive sum’ is quickly gobbled up on a relatively standard campaign.

I think the limits for the reckonable period are reasonably fair, the excess is pre-election spending with candidates like Eugene Regan and John Bailey (FG – Dun Laoghaire) spending literally €100,000s on billboard and outdoor advertising to buy themselves a seat in the Dáil.

BTW the Clinton "billion" is the total combined budget for ALL democratic candidates...

[MCS]

And the smaller parties can run no-hoper candidates in some constituencies so as to pool their spending allocations for a "national" campaign that can be focussed on the constituencies they're really targeting.

[KingKane]

ELECTION candidates will now be allowed to spend a massive €45,000 in the three short weeks of the general election campaign, an increase of €7,100.

And the amount of election expenses paid back to every candidate who gets at least a quarter of the votes required to get elected, is also rising to €8,700.

The new spending limits for the 2007 general election are €30,150 for a candidate in a three-seat constituency (up from €25,394), €37,650 in a four-seater (up from €31,743) and €42,500 in a five-seater (up from €38,092). The proposed increase, in line with inflation, was supported by Fianna Fail, the Progressive Democrats and Labour. - Irish Independent

The sentence ‘candidates will now be allowed to spend a massive €45,000 in the three short weeks’ is totally loaded, in most cases candidates have to allocate up to half their budget allocation to the central campaign, leaving a little over €22.500 for the campaign proper, allow for an office €3k, a few posters €10k, literature €5k, some banners €2k and petrol, travel and other expenses and you’ll find ‘the massive sum’ is quickly gobbled up on a relatively standard campaign.

I think the limits for the reckonable period are reasonably fair, the excess is pre-election spending with candidates like Eugene Regan and John Bailey (FG – Dun Laoghaire) spending literally €100,000s on billboard and outdoor advertising to buy themselves a seat in the Dáil.

BTW the Clinton "billion" is the total combined budget for ALL democratic candidates...

Maximus, if pre-election spending is such an issue then why don't FF do something about it? After all they are in power.

[rockofcashel]

ELECTION candidates will now be allowed to spend a massive €45,000 in the three short weeks of the general election campaign, an increase of €7,100.

And the amount of election expenses paid back to every candidate who gets at least a quarter of the votes required to get elected, is also rising to €8,700.

The new spending limits for the 2007 general election are €30,150 for a candidate in a three-seat constituency (up from €25,394), €37,650 in a four-seater (up from €31,743) and €42,500 in a five-seater (up from €38,092). The proposed increase, in line with inflation, was supported by Fianna Fail, the Progressive Democrats and Labour. - Irish Independent

The sentence ‘candidates will now be allowed to spend a massive €45,000 in the three short weeks’ is totally loaded, in most cases candidates have to allocate up to half their budget allocation to the central campaign, leaving a little over €22.500 for the campaign proper, allow for an office €3k, a few posters €10k, literature €5k, some banners €2k and petrol, travel and other expenses and you’ll find ‘the massive sum’ is quickly gobbled up on a relatively standard campaign.

I think the limits for the reckonable period are reasonably fair, the excess is pre-election spending with candidates like Eugene Regan and John Bailey (FG – Dun Laoghaire) spending literally €100,000s on billboard and outdoor advertising to buy themselves a seat in the Dáil.

BTW the Clinton "billion" is the total combined budget for ALL democratic candidates...

A few posters for 10k ?

What kind of poters are you getting for that ?

Ten grand would get you around 2000-2500 4*2 full colour corryboard posters.

[kerrynorth]

A few posters for 10k ?

What kind of poters are you getting for that ?

Ten grand would get you around 2000-2500 4*2 full colour corryboard posters.

I hear the cost of the 8x4's has fallen from over E100 each at the 2002 election to around E45 this time. Is this true RoC?

[rockofcashel]

A few posters for 10k ?

What kind of poters are you getting for that ?

Ten grand would get you around 2000-2500 4*2 full colour corryboard posters.

I hear the cost of the 8x4's has fallen from over E100 each at the 2002 election to around E45 this time. Is this true RoC?

I'm paying more than that, but am getting them locally (support local businesses) Depends on quantities, for 6-10, you'll pay about 80 euro each

[Salthill]

Just read the Sheehan peice - he really is a tabloid journalist.

Spending limits go up in line with inflation and this is news? As said above, the evidence seems to be that FF and FG candidates are disadvantaged versus those who don't have to give over allocations to their HQ.

In any event, there's no evidence around Dublin at the moment of smaller party candidates being unable to compete financially. The amount of Green stuff out at the moment is incredible, Quinn has posters and leafleting going at a higher level than even McDowell or Creighton.