Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

One of the key purposes of the Charities Bill 2007, which recently completed Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann, is to enact a reform of the law relating to charities in order to ensure accountability and to protect against abuse of charitable status and fraud. It is vital for public trust and confidence in the sector to be safeguarded and maintained. I should clarify, however, that I have no statutory role in relation to the investigation of charities.

In the development of the Bill, my Department, in addition to conducting public consultation processes, has also engaged in extensive consultation with other Departments and statutory bodies, including the Revenue Commissioners, to ensure that the Bill provides a secure legislative base for the regulation of charities. In the case of the co-operation with Revenue, who currently maintain a list of bodies that have qualified for charitable tax exemptions, I am pleased to say that there has been a very productive working relationship. Discussions with Revenue and the Department of Finance in relation to various legal and technical issues that have emerged are continuing in advance of Report Stage, which it is hoped will be taken shortly.

The Bill provides that a new charities regulatory authority will be set up to secure compliance by charities with their legal obligations and also to encourage better administration of charities. A register of charities will be established in which all charities operating in the State must register. It will be an offence for a body not on the register to claim that it is a charity, or to operate or fundraise in Ireland. In recognition of the value of the resource potentially available to the new authority in terms of experience and expertise within Revenue, an amendment was introduced on Committee Stage providing explicitly for co-operation between the new authority and Revenue on the establishment of the register of charities.

The new authority may call for documents and search records, enter premises on foot of a search warrant, impose sanctions, and co-operate with foreign statutory bodies on law enforcement matters. There will also be significant penalties in place. However, while the new authority will determine whether an organisation is a charitable organisation for the purposes of entry onto the register of charities, it will remain a matter solely for Revenue to determine whether any funds applied by organisations for charitable purposes should be granted entitlement to tax exemption.

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