Mr. Liam Herrick:

On that point, if we start distinguishing the political from the non-political around the electoral process and if we look at political parties that execute executive or legislative power or seek to do either or both those things, that is, to make and implement the laws of the country, in our view this is what distinguishes the political sphere from the civil society sphere. I think everybody understands this point and that elected representatives, who hold the power that people in these Houses do, have different obligations and considerations than those of us outside of that who have no power in making laws, except in the context of trying to engage and to provide information to elected representatives. I think that is a clear distinction.

If we try to get into a subjective analysis of what are the goals of Friends of the Earth or the Green Party, for example, we will find that all the parties represented in these Houses have goals and objectives that are matters of principle and public good, whether those involve the protection of the environment and-or workers' rights, achieving a greater sense of reconciliation between people in both parts of the island or to build stronger communities. There will, of course, be strong overlaps between the goals of political parties and those of charities and community organisations. If we put a regulatory body in the business of evaluating those various goals, I think we will have significant difficulties. The political system should be regulated in a political way. The Charities Regulator should be concerned with ensuring, in the context that the law says what is a charitable objective, whether people are keeping themselves within those parameters. The regulator was very helpful in saying that if the law defines what is a charitable objective, whether it involves poverty, human rights, religion, sport or whatever it might be, the task of the office is to ensure that bodies are staying within that remit. This would be the only concern of the office. It would not be concerned with whether a choice is made to campaign or to write a letter to a Deputy because this would not be the proper remit of the Charities Regulator.