Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When James Joyce offered his book Dubliners to his London publishers, he drew attention to the "special odour of corruption" that floats over his stories. He said, "It is not my fault that the odour of ash pits and old weeds and offal hangs round my stories." While we are not assailed by the odours of offal and ash pits, we are assailed by the far more odious, offensive and pervasive odour of greed, selfishness and corruption at the heart of what we are discussing tonight and tomorrow night. In the Dáil recently we have examined abuses including the residential institutions, the Magdalen laundries and the ladies who suffered the ordeal of symphysiotomy. One thinks one has reached the end of it, that there could not be any more horror stories. Then we come to this particular horror story and see the abuse of the people who were using the services and of the generosity of the Irish people.

This scandal at the CRC has done untold damage to charities and charitable organisations in this country. People with special needs, both mental and physical, our elderly, our schoolchildren and the homeless should not have to rely on charity and fund-raising in order to address their needs, but that is what must happen. They need fund-raising services due to a lack of commitment on the part of successive governments to adequately address the needs of those sections of society.

When we look at the composition of the CRC boards, we cannot help but wonder at it. It is almost like a Who's Whoof members of the Fianna Fáil party. We cannot help also but come to the conclusion that the CRC and other institutions, like the Mater hospital, allowed themselves to be used as a thank you for those who served Fianna Fáil in the past. This must be a source of embarrassment for current members of the party. It is unfortunate that this system of rewards for members of political parties continues in this Dáil. I fear that when other charitable organisations are examined, more of what we have seen in the CRC will come to light.

I have a question with regard to the work of the charity regulation section of the Nenagh office of the Revenue Commissioners. For the past 40 years I have been on the voluntary board of a number of small charities and organisations and am aware of the amount of paperwork and rules and regulations we must go through in order to get charitable status and of the extent of professional fees these organisations must pay. There is governance of the small charities, but where was that governance in the case of the larger charities?

I support the coming into operation of the Charities Act and the establishment of a charities regulator, who will, I hope, put the best interests of those he serves at the heart of his work.

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