Second Stage Stage in the legislative process — click for what it means Current The bill’s status — click for what it means 25th Seanad The House currently handling the bill 35/2019 Official bill number / year
Electoral (Civil Society Freedom) (Amendment) Bill 2019
- Sponsor
- Lynn Ruane · Independent
- Introduced
- 14 May 2019
- Last updated
- 5 Mar 2025
What this bill does AI · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
- Amends Electoral Act 1997 section 22 to narrowly define 'political purposes' as donations relating to specific elections or referendums only, removing ambiguous language covering all government policy advocacy.
- Exempts civil society organisations from strict campaign finance rules when conducting routine lobbying and advocacy work unrelated to electoral campaigns.
- Removes threat of criminal penalties (up to €25,394 fine and three years imprisonment) that currently deters NGOs and volunteers from ordinary political advocacy.
Stage timeline What do these stages mean?
- First Stage 25th Seanad14 May 2019
- Second Stage 25th Seanad4 Mar 2025
Debates
Related bills
- Údarás na Gaeltachta (Amendment) Bill 2024 Fifth Stage
- Gas Safety and Miscellaneous Amendments Bill 2026 Fifth Stage
- Electricity Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2026 First Stage
- Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Housing) Bill 2026 Second Stage
- Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Standing Charges) Bill 2026 Second Stage
- Irish Language Name and Address of the Person (Length Accent) Bill 2026 Second Stage