Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are very welcome. It is really important that people feel confident in this incredibly important sector. The work of the witnesses is incredibly important from that point of view. When I went through the list of charities, I noticed that some of them have 19th century names. People know the names of many of the big charities, but there are also local charities like schools that crop up on the list. The number of charities is incredibly large for the size of the country. Perhaps this is a reflection of the fact that the charitable sector in this country is providing services that would normally be public services in some other countries. I refer to charities like Rehab, Enable Ireland and the Irish Heart Foundation. Some of their work is promotional. It is understandable that they would have charitable status. In many other countries, the services being provided by a charity like Enable Ireland would be a matter of public provision. I think there is a gap being filled. Some confidence was lost when attention was focused on the amounts of money being paid to the CEOs of charitable organisations. I assume that does not come under the remit of the Charities Regulator. At a time when the public is being very generous but is seeing very large salaries being paid to CEOs, it is very difficult to retain public confidence in this sector. Is any guidance available in this regard? Some of these companies are very big and need to have good personnel. Is there any guidance on engagement with some of the bigger charities?