Minister for Local Government Phil Hogan has announced plans to limit donations to politicians and parties, as well as tying Government funding for parties to the number of women candidates.
A new Electoral Amendment Bill dealing with political funding will reduce the limit on political donations that can be accepted by a political party from €6,348 to €2,500.
The limit for an individual politician will be cut from €2,539 to €1,000.
The Minister said he would have liked to ban corporate donations completely, but had been informed by the Attorney General that this would not be possible.
However, he said the issue could be revisited by the Constitutional Convention, which is due to be established shortly.
The new legislation will also ban parties from accepting donations over €200 from any source unless the body has been registered with the Standards in Public Office Commission.
Mr Hogan ruled out any increase in State funding to make up for the new restrictions on donations.
The legislation will also reduce State funding by half for any party that does not have women as 30% of its General Election candidates.
This figure will rise to 40% after seven years.
