Your Country Your Call: SIPO and I exchange further letters

I received a letter from SIPO today telling me that they were continuing with their examination of my request for an investigation. I made reply as follows.

I write to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 1^st September 2010.

Further to my original request for an investigation I attach a print out from the Yourcountryyourcall.com website. I also attach the complete text of that webpage, titled About, where the promoters of An Smaoineamh Mór Limited set out their description of the Your Country Your Call competition aims and intentions.

For your assistance in your inquiry, please note as further evidence that An Smaoineamh Mór Limited are a Third Party as defined in the Electoral Acts, the description below of the “Implementation Phase” of the company’s business plan from that website.

Implementation will commence before the end of the year 2010. Winning proposals may require legislative, administrative or procedural change before implementation can be effected. This will be part of the task of the implementation phase of the competition.

The Promoters of the competition will have the services of a pro-bono professional advisory group, including representatives from key government departments, and up to €1 million of a development fund to implement the two winning proposals i.e. €500,000 each.

The company here acknowledge that (a) they will be seeking “legislative, administrative or procedural change” and (b) that they will be engaged with “representatives from key government departments” to bring this change about. They also acknowledge that the money donated will be used to fund this implementation of policy change.

This is an acknowledgement that the company is a Third Party (as defined by the Electoral Acts) and that they have taken in donations for political purposes (as that phrase is defined in Section 22(2)(aa) of the 1997 Electoral Act, as inserted by Section 49 of the Electoral (Amendment) 2001 Act). They are conducting or managing a campaign conducted with a view to promoting or procuring a particular outcome in relation to a policy or policies or function of the Government or other public authority.

I would be grateful if you could confirm;

1. Whether you have copied my letter requesting an investigation to An Smaoineamh Mór Limited.
2. Whether you have contacted them with your own queries as part of your investigation as to whether An Smaoineamh Mór Limited has failed to register as a third party under the Electoral Acts and has accepted donations for political purposes in excess of those permitted by statute.
3. Whether you have received a reply from them in relation either my letter or your own letter and
4. That you will forward to me copies of An Smaoineamh Mór Limited’s replies, to allow me to present further evidence for your assistance.

I look forward to your reply and trust that you may find the attached documents of some assistance in your investigation.