Fine Gael spent almost twice as much as both Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil during last year’s local, European and general elections, new figures show.
Party accounts filed with the Standards In Public Office commission (SIPO) confirm that Tánaiste Simon Harris’s party was the biggest spender during all three of the election campaigns in 2024.
According to the official figures, Fine Gael spent a combined €3.22m on elections last year.
This compares to Sinn Féin’s €1.7m and Fianna Fáil’s €1.69m.
Of these amounts, the general election campaign is where most of the money was spent, with Fine Gael spending just over €2m during November’s race compared to Fianna Fáil’s €950,000 and Sinn Féin’s €644,000.
During this campaign, Fine Gael won 38 seats (up three), Fianna Fáil won 48 (up ten) and Sinn Féin won 39 (up two).
The second-highest expenditure was for the European parliament elections in June 2024, with Fine Gael and Sinn Féin both spending around €600,000 compared to Fianna Fáil’s €320,000.
During this campaign, Fine Gael won four seats (down one), Fianna Fáil won four (up two) and Sinn Féin won two (up one).
The third election last year, June’s local elections, also saw Fine Gael spend €512,000, Fianna Fáil €289,000 and Sinn Féin €77,000.
During this campaign, Fine Gael won 245 seats (down 10), Fianna Fáil won 248 (down 31) and Sinn Féin won 102 (up 21).
According to the accounts filed with SIPO, Sinn Féin remains the richest of the three biggest parties based on income, cash balances and financial reserves.
As a comparative example, by the end of last year, Sinn Féin had €4.6m in cash in its accounts, compared to Fianna Fáil which had €470,000 at that time.
While not all finances of a party are focused on campaign spending, a significant proportion is usually assigned for this eventuality.
It is widely expected that a presidential election campaign will cost a party around €500,000.
