Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

There are reports that Revenue is concerned that bogus claims are being made by charities which seek to recover tax on apparent donations, which are not donations, certainly not donations to what the ordinary person would understand to be a good and proper charity. The difficulty is that the Charities Bill has been kicked around by the Government since 1997 and is still on Report Stage. It has had a journey through so many Departments, it must be suffering an identity crisis. As it is still on Report Stage, there is no legislation in Ireland governing charities.

Irish people are renowned for being extraordinarily generous to charities, both in Ireland and overseas, but there are serious concerns that the Revenue scheme is open to abuse. Is the Minister not concerned that if bogus claims are made for recovery of tax by bogus operators, it brings all charitable activity in Ireland into disrepute, including that by organisations which work hard and do excellent work here and abroad? Will the Minister elaborate on the trawl by the Revenue Commissioners? There are thousands of registered charities. How many are involved?

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