Mr. Patrick O'Connor:

My view of the charities sector, which I hope is commonly held, is that there is a big number involved in it - 7,000 and maybe more. They range from three or four people who come together for one particular purpose to large organisations which have CEOs and staffing and other issues. It is a very diverse sector and is a wide fan across Irish life. It is also a very important part of Irish life, as I said in my opening statement, and it needs to be fostered. As I understand it, the Chairman asked whether the Charities Act 2009, and what has been put in place as a result of the Act, will be adequate to police charities and encourage them to do the right thing and to be open and accountable. It is a major step but I do not know whether it will work out. The Charities Regulator has prepared a first statement of strategy, which takes us to 2018. That sets out what the regulator and the authority will achieve. The Chairman's question is more relevant to that level than the level at which the tribunal will be involved. We will be dealing with the small, focused area of appeals relating to failures to register and other such things. In light of the way in which certain issues came to public attention in the past few years, it is timely. The question of whether or not it could have been done earlier is one for policy and I will not get into it. At the end of the day, the enactment is important, the initiation is important and the powers given to the regulator under Part 4 to carry out an investigation are also very important.