8.— Section 21 of the Act of 1999 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (b):

“(bb) directly, or through any other person, incurs election expenses in excess of the relevant amount calculated in accordance with section 12A (inserted by section 4 of the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2009), or”,

(b) in subsection (2)—

(i) in paragraph (c) by substituting “section 13, or” for “section 13.”, and

(ii) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (c):

“(d) directly, or through any other person, incurs election expenses in excess of the relevant amount calculated in accordance with section 12A (inserted by section 4 of the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2009).”,

(c) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(3A) A candidate at a local election shall be guilty of an offence if he or she directly, or through any other person, incurs election expenses in excess of the relevant amount calculated in accordance with section 12A (inserted by section 4 of the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2009).”,

(d) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (4B):

“(4C) A person shall be guilty of an offence if, at a local election, he or she incurs election expenses, or makes any payment, advance or deposit in respect of such expenses—

(a) on behalf of a political party unless the person is the national agent of the party concerned or a person authorised by such national agent acting within the limit of such authorisation, or

(b) on behalf of a candidate unless the person is a designated person, or a person authorised by such person acting within the limit of such authorisation.”,

and

(e) in subsection (5)(a), by substituting the following for subparagraph (ii):

“(ii) where the offence is an offence to which subsection (1)(b), (2)(b), (3)(c), (3A) (inserted by section 8(c) of the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2009), (4A)(b), or (4B)(d) relates, he or she shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €25,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”.