Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I do not think anything can be done in the interim. It is full steam ahead as far as the Department is concerned. However, this is not simple legislation. If we manage to get it published by the end of next year, we will be doing well. It will be a comprehensive Bill with more than 200 heads. Public consultations have been held and in recent days the independent evaluation of the submissions made has been published. The Law Reform Commission is working in the area of trust law. However, much work needs to be done and new legislation is needed.

The area is unregulated. Most of the charities we hear about daily do great work and fully support our efforts. The public reaction and that of the charities has been very favourable because all charities doing good work need this legislation as a protection and the sector needs to have safeguards. However, as the sector is unregulated, there are no provisions short of the legislation. We are progressing that as best we can.

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