John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

On the matter of audit and tax clearance certificates, registration with Revenue always remains a separate matter for the Revenue Commissioners. This amendment does not change that obligation in any way. It will be required. The changes proposed for the EU-registered charities impose an obligation for each of them to have a place of residence in the State. Revenue currently requires all charities seeking charitable tax exemption to have a physical presence in this jurisdiction but this is a separate matter for Revenue. However, on the basis of the legal advice, the requirement that these charities have a physical and legal presence in Ireland is to be removed. An approach to the regulation of non-Irish charities, taking into account the requirement of equality of treatment of all EU, EEA, EFTA-based charities, has been developed in discussions with the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Finance. The Bill is to be amended on that basis. It should be noted that charities from outside this area will be required to have a legal presence in this jurisdiction.

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