Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to share time with my good friend, Deputy Chris Andrews. I welcome the opportunity to make a brief contribution on the Charities Bill 2007, which I warmly welcome. I will attempt not to try the patience of the Chair other than to mention that while listening to Deputy Barrett's excellent contribution, I thought for a moment I had strayed into a health debate. I mean that in the nicest possible way.

Like other speakers, I applaud the efforts of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey, in his new position. He is badly missed on our corridor — his office used to be on the same corridor as my office — since his promotion, with which I was delighted. I am glad that Deputy Carey has been able to leave Finglas, as Deputy Andrews mentioned. The new Minister of State has already been to Tallaght on two occasions, which is something that pleases me. While his remit as Minister of State with responsibility for drugs policy is an important part of his job description, it is good that he is concentrating some of his energies on the community aspect of his portfolio.

As someone who comes from a community work background, I have often said that I was not born a politician — I was a happy community worker before I strayed into politics after getting interested in various things. I am happy to be a local politician in the south west of Dublin. We should always remember our backgrounds in community work and it is good to be able to do so in a debate like this. I acknowledge the presence of the recently appointed Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development, Deputy Michael Kitt, who is aware of my interest in his area of concern. He has been given the hard task of succeeding my hard-working colleague in Dublin South-West, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, whose work in that role I was always happy to support.

I hope Opposition colleagues will support this Bill because it is good legislation. I note the purpose of the Bill is to reform the laws currently relating to charities and to create a composite regulatory framework through a combination of new provisions and retention of old ones with updates where appropriate.

Charitable purposes will be defined for the first time in primary legislation. Discrimination of eligibility for certain tax exemption on funds applied for charitable purposes will, however, remain exclusively the function of the Revenue Commissioners. The Bill will provide for the establishment of the charities regulatory authority which will have strong powers of investigation and co-operation with law enforcement, but it will also operate in a supportive manner, giving guidance where necessary. The existing function of the board of the Commission for Charitable Donations and Bequests will transfer fully to the new authority when this is established.

A key function of the new authority will be the establishment and maintenance of a register of charities in Ireland which is to be welcomed as there is no such register at present. Registration will be mandatory for all charities operating in Ireland. It will be an offence for a body not on the register to claim charitable status or to operate or fundraise in Ireland. The legislation governing fundraising, which dates from 1962, will be updated to include the regulation of collections and promises of money, that is, collection by direct debit which have up to now been outside the permit system.

Charitable organisations will be required to provide annual returns to the authority on activity and accounts information on a gradual basis, depending on the size of the organisation. This information will be available to the public. Aspects of the Bill relating to annual reporting and accounts by charities already subject to the Companies Act are under discussion with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Companies Registration Office to ensure that the potential for dual reporting is maintained. The Bill sets out the circumstances in which a person ceases to be qualified to hold a position of charity trustee. A register of disqualified persons will be available to the public.

I noted with interest the remarks of my colleague, Deputy Chris Andrews. It is appropriate that the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, is present. I come from a generation which used to drop pennies into the box for the black babies — this description might not be allowed today. As a very small child I was aware that I did not want to go to school without a penny for the black babies and this has formed my view about charities.

I have been associated over the years with John O'Shea and Goal and their great work over the past 30 years as a result of my involvement with the community games. I regarded it as good use of the goodwill of sports stars who were prepared to give their time, expertise and name to ensure that moneys were collected. It should not be forgotten that charity begins at home, with many demands in all our communities. Other colleagues have referred to their constituencies so I will mention Tallaght where I am always happy to offer practical support for the various charities in my constituency, including the children's hospital in Tallaght which I am keen to promote at every opportunity.

I usually spend time on Tuesdays reading the Tallaght Echo and the Tallaght Voice but I also read The Irish Times yesterday. I refer to an excellent article by Ivan Cooper from The Wheel about this legislation. It provides an insight into the legislation and is written in an easy to read style. He made some valid points. I am pleased The Wheel, like other organisations, welcomes the publication of the Charities Bill 2007. It has noted that community and voluntary organisations working for charitable purposes have been urging the Government to regulate charities for many years. The Wheel makes the point that a range of important issues will need to be addressed if the Bill is to provide a supportive regulation in order for charities to thrive and make their contribution so that Ireland is a better place in which to live.

Ivan Cooper stated that what he describes as the long-awaited passage through the Oireachtas of this Bill is important in that the Bill when enacted will ensure that charities remain entitled to engage in all types of campaigning and different activities relating to furthering their legitimate charitable purposes. He notes that working to promote human rights and social justice are explicitly named as charitable purposes. He states that charities must also be financially supported to rise to the additional demands that working in a regulated environment will impose. The Wheel makes the point that voluntary organisations must be able to plan if they are to be a source of innovation in public service delivery as per the Towards 2016 national agreement.

I am pleased the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey, is present. He has a busy schedule dealing with the Government's drug programme, which is part of his remit. I appreciate his work in that regard. I have already acknowledged that he has visited Tallaght twice as Minister of State and I urge him to keep coming. Deputy McGrath would also be very welcome in Tallaght. I am pleased to see him in the House. He is nearly as well known in Tallaght as I am through all his exploits. I suspect he is probably one of the best known Deputies in the whole country.

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