John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

First I must declare an interest in that I am employed by a charity. I am chief executive of the Disability Federation of Ireland, which has over 100 organisations and charities affiliated to it.

My first question centres on the issue of balance. There are ten or 11 statutory functions listed for the authority, of which regulation and compliance constitute one. The provision of information, advice, support and so forth, is another function. I am anxious that the authority should achieve the right balance in the work it is doing. At the start of his presentation, Mr. Farrelly talked about the few and the many. There was huge attrition in the voluntary sector in the lead up to Christmas 2014 because of the actions of one or two organisations. How will the authority maintain a balance, on a day-to-day basis, between compliance and its broader functions? The latter includes issues such as good governance because that means far more than simply being compliant.

I wish the Charities Regulatory Authority all the best in its work. Towards the end of his presentation, Mr. Farrelly described the sector as challenging and congested. What does he mean by that? He also referred to people with appropriate skill sets. I ask him to elaborate on the three or four core skill sets he is seeking. My final question is one of those leaving certificate "discuss" type questions from the honours paper. Would we all have been better served if we had, instead of the Charities Act 2009, a public benefit Act 2009? The work is all about public benefit and Mr. Farrelly alluded to the fact that people do not always understand that. That horse has bolted but when one looks at the purpose of the Act, it is about public benefit. Should we redefine charity in terms of public benefit? Would we be better off pushing that concept to the fore?