Ms ?ine Myler:

I am on a State board that delivers regulation. I agree entirely with Ms Murphy. The culture and approach is often set on the board of the statutory body. The question is whether the resources face towards compliance or towards guidance, protection and promotion. The primary legislation has a role to play in delivering the balance and transparency. There is an opportunity to provide positive obligations on a regulator in the legislation. As we redraft the legislation, we have an opportunity that we welcome. There is always the question of resources to deliver these actions. The tone and culture is set at the board of the regulatory body.

Very recently we, along with The Wheel, and other organisational entities operating in the charity sector, had a very good discussion with the regulator about setting up a stakeholder forum. We believe this will deliver part of that feedback from the sector to the regulator, and the interaction that is required to create this culture of transparency and accountability, and for us to be the watchdogs on behalf of the regulator for trends that are occurring in the sector. We are really looking forward to its establishment, and we hope to be able to feed into it too.