Under the Electoral Act 1997, a registered party is eligible for payments from the Central Fund in proportion to the percentage of total first-preference votes its candidates received at the previous general election. This is subject to a minimum threshold of two percent of the total first-preference votes. There was criticism of this after the 2019 Irish local elections when Renua Ireland received €250,000 despite losing its last remaining elected representatives. Small parties on the brink of the threshold have also exhorted supporters to turn out even in constituencies where their local candidate has no chance of winning a seat.;
