Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We need to get a holistic picture of where funds are going. Universities are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and we now know of other sources of income. These foundations are outside the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General but do come under the Charities Regulator. The funding goes through these foundations and comes out the other end, so we should be able to create a whole and transparent picture of what is going through all the third level colleges. When Ms Martin can provide us with that information, we will have a clearer view of where all that funding is going, how it is being spent and how it is being matched with taxpayers' money. I hope Ms Martin can provide us with as much information as possible, including totals and percentages across all third level colleges, in tabular form, and a commentary on each foundation or other organisation that is in place. All of that would be useful.

Has the Charities Regulator considered running a public awareness campaign in regard to its work? As a public representative, people often tell me that they do not donate to charities other than those which are local to them because they are confident of their bona fides. I am concerned that a lot of charities are being painted in the wrong way. There have been issues with the sector in the past, which I will not detail today. There are one or two organisations that stand out at a national level because they are so large and well known, such as the Irish Cancer Society. Some charities, however, are being damaged by association with what went on in the past, and potential funds are not coming to them because of this. Could the Charities Regulator devise some type of campaign to engage and inform people? It will be challenging because of the range of charities in operation, but it would be helpful. We have discovered in the past that where people were collecting on street corners for certain charitable organisations, a large percentage of the funds raised were given to the collectors and only a small percentage to the charities themselves.