4.— The Act of 1999 is amended by inserting the following Part after Part III:

“PART IIIA

EXPENDITURE BY POLITICAL PARTIES AND CANDIDATES AT LOCAL ELECTIONS

Limitation of election expenses at local election.

12A.— (1) (a) Subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), the aggregate of election expenses which may be incurred by or on behalf of a candidate in connection with his or her candidature at a local election shall not exceed—

(i) in the case of a county or city council electoral area with a population in excess of 32,500, €15,000;

(ii) in the case of a county or city council electoral area with a population of between 22,501 and 32,500, €13,000;

(iii) in the case of a county or city council electoral area with a population of between 12,001 and 22,500, €11,500;

(iv) in the case of a county or city council electoral area with a population of 12,000 or less, €9,750;

and

(v) in the case of an electoral area of a borough council or a town council, €7,500.

(b) Where a candidate contests an election for both a county council and a borough or town council, the election expenses which may be incurred by or on behalf of the candidate in connection with his or her candidature at the election shall be the limit appropriate to the electoral area in the county in which the candidate is nominated plus one quarter of the spending limit appropriate to the electoral area in the borough council or town council in which the candidate is also a candidate.

(c) (i) Where a political party authenticates the candidature of a candidate at a local election, the party shall incur 10 per cent of the amount of the election expenses which that candidate is entitled to incur at that election, or such alternative percentage of the amount as may be agreed in writing between the candidate and national agent of the political party.

(ii) The election expenses which a political party may incur under subparagraph (i) may relate to expenditure in the electoral area concerned, or otherwise.

(iii) In the case of a candidate whose candidature is authenticated by a political party at a local election, the national agent of the party may by agreement in writing authorise the designated person of the party to incur such proportion of election expenditure at the election which the candidate is entitled to incur under paragraph (a) as may be agreed in writing between the national agent and the designated person.

(2) The aggregate of election expenses which may be incurred by the national agent of a political party on behalf of that party at a local election shall be the sum of the amounts of election expenses incurred pursuant to subsection (1)(c)(i), between candidates whose candidatures were authenticated by the party at the election and the party.

(3) Subject to subsection (1)(c)(iii), the aggregate of election expenses which may be incurred by the national agent and designated person of the party on behalf of that party within an electoral area of a county council, city council, borough council or town council at a local election, shall not exceed the sum of the amounts of election expenses for all candidates of that party in that electoral area, provided for under subsection (1)(c)(i).

(4) In this section, ‘ population’ means population as ascertained by the Central Statistics Office in the Census Report setting out the final result of the most recent Census of Population.

Period in respect of which election expenses are reckoned at local election.

12B.— (1) After the Minister has made an order under section 26 of the Local Government Act 2001 fixing the polling day at a local election, he or she may by order specify the period during which election expenses at the local election concerned shall be reckoned for the purposes of this Part.

(2) An order under subsection (1) shall specify—

(a) a date not less than 50 and not more than 60 days prior to the polling day at the local election concerned, as the date on which the period shall commence, and

(b) the polling day at the local election concerned, as the date on which the period shall end.”.