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Reimbursement of expenses at elections in Seanad Higher Education constituency
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42. The Act of 1997 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 21A:
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“21B. (1) Subject to subsections (2), (3) and (4), election expenses shall be reimbursed to a candidate at an election in the Seanad Higher Education constituency where—
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(a) he or she is elected at the election, or
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(b) he or she is not so elected but the greatest number of votes credited to him or her at any stage of the counting of votes at the election exceeds one quarter of the quota.
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(2) The amount of election expenses which may be reimbursed to a candidate under this section shall be the actual expenses incurred by the candidate or €13,750, whichever is less.
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(3) Subject to subsection (4), payments in respect of the reimbursement of election expenses under this section shall be made by the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof to each candidate referred to in subsection (1) who applies therefor to the Standards in Public Offices Commission in a form directed by the Commission.
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(4) No payment in respect of the reimbursement of election expenses of a candidate shall be made unless and until the Standards in Public Offices Commission—
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(a) certifies to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in writing that—
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(i) in respect of the candidate, there has been full compliance with section 36,
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(ii) the statement of election expenses furnished under that section is in compliance with Part V and was prepared in accordance with such guidelines (if any) issued by the Commission under section 4, and
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(iii) a donation statement has been furnished in accordance with section 24(2)(b) to the Commission and such statement was prepared in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commission under section 4,
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and
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(b) furnishes to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform details of the amount of actual election expenses incurred by the candidate.
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(5) The Standards in Public Offices Commission shall, if satisfied that a candidate at an election in the Seanad Higher Education constituency is eligible for reimbursement of election expenses incurred for the purpose of that election, furnish the certification and details referred to in subsection (4) in respect of the candidate to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, as soon as may be after it has considered—
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(a) the application for reimbursement of election expenses under subsection (3) in respect of that candidate, and
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(b) the statement of election expenses furnished to it in respect of the candidate under section 36.
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(6) Where a candidate referred to in subsection (1) dies—
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(a) after the close of the poll at an election in the Seanad Higher Education constituency, and
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(b) before making an application for the reimbursement of election expenses under this section,
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the personal representative of the candidate may make such application and any reimbursement of such expenses shall be made to such personal representative.
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(7) Where a candidate referred to in subsection (1) dies—
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(a) after making an application for the reimbursement of election expenses under this section, and
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(b) before such reimbursement is made,
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the reimbursement of those expenses shall be made to the personal representative of the candidate.
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(8) A payment made to a candidate, or the personal representative of a candidate, as the case may be, under this section shall not be liable to income tax.
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(9) In this section, ‘election expenses’, insofar as it relates to an election in the Seanad Higher Education constituency, has the meaning assigned to it by section 31.”.
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