The price of general election success

SPENDING among individual candidates in Clare in the 2011 General Election campaign is expected to range from around €4,000 right up the statutory limit of €37,650.

Green Party candidate Brian Meaney and Labour’s Michael McNamara were the only two Clare candidates who disclosed what they expect to spend, when contacted by The Clare Champion this week.
Councillor Meaney expects to spend €4,000, which is one third of his total expenditure bill of €12,651 in the 2007 General Election.
“The reality is a lot of money is spent before the election is called by some candidates, so the statutory limits can be academic,” he said.
The Clare Green Party will contribute €1,000 towards his campaign and he will have to raise the rest himself.
Labour’s Michael McNamara expects to spend €12,000 on his campaign.
“It will mainly come from my own resources, as Labour’s resources in Clare are meagre relative to the other main parties. I am also receiving small individual donations from supporters,” he said.
Independent candidates, Jim Connolly and Councillor James Breen have claimed that the electoral system is weighed against those who aren’t members of the main political parties. They maintain that this militates against their chances of winning a seat.
Councillor Breen, who incurred an election bill of €26,676 in 2007, said he didn’t have the “financial war chest” that the main parties had at their disposal.
“An allowance should be given to independent candidates for election literature and advertising,” he said.
Mr Connolly said he has to fund his campaign entirely from his own pocket and would make statutory disclosures at the appropriate time.
The statutory spending limit for the Clare constituency covering all expenses incurred and payments made in providing property, goods or services for electoral purposes is €37,650 for all candidates, which was the same for the 2007 General Election.
The limits, which apply only from the date the election is called to polling day, are set by the Standards in Public Offices Commission (SIPO), which also regulates donations from individuals and from parties to individual candidates.
2007 poll topper, Fianna Fáil’s Deputy Timmy Dooley, who spent €26,676 during that election, declined to give an estimate of what he expects to spend on this campaign.
His running mate, Dr John Hillery said he had no intention of reaching the spending limits set by SIPO and confirmed the Fianna Fáil party would pay for his election literature and publicity.
“I believe that the candidates in national elections should have ideas that will be clearly understood by people without the need for the spending of large amounts of money to put them across,” he said.
Deputy Pat Breen, who spent €15,161 in 2007, said the Fine Gael party would be funding posters and leafleting and he would cover the rest from his own resources.
Fine Gael Deputy Joe Carey, who spent €19,940 in 2007, said it was difficult to estimate what he would spend and intends to finance his campaign mainly through his own personal finances, including a personal investment of €2,000.
Councillor Tony Mulcahy has made a personal investment of €2,000, which is supplemented by additional support from the party for advertising and election literature. He spent €17,297 when he ran for Fine Gael in 2007.