Green Party calls for 'outlawing' of corporate donations
The Green Party has called on Fianna Fáil to outlaw corporate gifts and donations, following Councillor Marie Ardagh's belated change of mind about attending the Ryder Cup as a corporate guest of a building developer.
Cllr Tony McDermott, Green Party General Election candidate for Dublin South Central said: "I am shocked and dismayed at Cllr. Ardagh's statement that she gets invitations to things like this all the time. The public outcry following her acceptance of corporate tickets to the Ryder Cup has come at a time when all political parties are facing huge costs and expenditure with a General Election looming.
"There is a clear distinction between the interest's of private companies and the public interest. Politicians are custodians of the public interests. They are legally obliged to ensure that their actions are above suspicion and that their dealings with business are above reproach and can bear the closest possible scrutiny.
"Company directors, on the other hand, are legally obliged to apply the resources of a company in the sole interests of the company. The business case for spending a company's funds on politicians and political parties must be based either in return for some benefit that has been delivered in the past or an expected return at some time in the future," said Cllr McDermott.
