Mr. Liam Herrick:

The regulator was very strong on this. There needs to be transparency and there needs to be clarity. A person who is giving money to a charity needs to have a very clear understanding of what the money will be used for. Certainly if an organisation states it is a children's rights charity and it does a number of activities, including advocacy and the provision of services, it has to do these things. There cannot be a gap between what an organisation promises its donors it does and what it does in reality. There can be no question of this. If a charity were to fundraise and state every euro given is for purpose A, it should use the money for purpose A. This is the territory in which the Charities Regulator is properly concerned. It is to make sure there is good practice, transparency and accountability. We do not feel it should be properly concerned with deciding who can engage in campaigning and who cannot. This is a risk we see with some of the approach being taken.