Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

With regard to EU regulation, if a charity is collecting in this country and does not have a principal place of business in the country, it must still be treated the same as we would treat our own charities. Will these charities be able to obtain tax exemptions from the Revenue Commissioners? How will this be controlled? Has the Minister of State spoken to the Revenue on this matter? How will these charities be properly audited if they do not have their principal place of business in this State? Will there be co-operation between all the EU member states? How can we ensure these charities are living within the law in their own country? They could come here looking for tax exemptions or collecting in this country and may not be obeying the law in their own land.

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