FIANNA FÁIL spent less than a quarter of what Fine Gael spent on commercial advertising in the Lisbon Treaty campaign, figures obtained by The Irish Timesindicate.
Libertas, the anti-treaty entity run by businessman Declan Ganley, spent more on commercial advertisements than all the political parties put together, according to the figures.
Libertas spent €912,753 on advertisements in places such as newspapers, billboards, and on buses.
Fianna Fáil spent €114,814, Fine Gael spent €485,944 and the Labour Party spent €133,757. The figures concern spending in the period January to June of this year.
A spokesman for Fianna Fáil said he did not dispute the figure. He said the party had a policy of not spending large amounts on newspaper and other commercial advertisements. He said the party spent €700,000 on its Lisbon Treaty campaign.
The figures were supplied by the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland, which monitors advertising spend in the outdoor and print media, on the internet, on TV and in cinemas. The figures do not include spending on posters put up on lampposts and elsewhere, leaflets dropped into houses, or other such expenditure.
The figures are based on the rate cards or standard prices quoted by media outlets. Discounts from such prices can be negotiated, with some media outlets known to be open to substantial discounts.
However, the figures give a picture of the size of the relative spends of the various parties and groups involved in the referendum campaign. None of the parties disputed their general accuracy.
The figures show that Fine Gael's five MEPs spent €102,858 on print and outdoor advertising in June. They are the only party MEPs picked up by the figures, though a spokesman for the Labour Party said its MEP, Proinsias De Rossa, was involved in commissioning advertisements. The situation in regard to Fianna Fáil MEPs could not be clarified last night.
Some parties' MEPs had access to EU funds to support their campaigns.
The pro-treaty Alliance for Europe group recorded a spend of €153,130. Sinn Féin recorded a spend of €41,723. The Green Party and the Progressive Democrats did not record any expenditure. Cóir, which campaigned against the treaty, recorded a spend of €12,342.
A spokeswoman for the Green Party said it did not campaign for or against the treaty as it did not receive a party mandate to do so. A spokesman for the PDs said it had an approved budget of "up to €50,000" and concentrated on posters.
There was no comment available from Libertas. As well as its spend on commercial advertising, it ran a nationwide leafleting campaign and had an extensive poster campaign, expenditure on which would not be reflected in the €912,753 figure.
