John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

These amendments were raised on Committee Stage from the perspective that the independence of the charitable sector might be undermined by not excluding statutory bodies from charitable status altogether. It is the case that some statutory bodies currently enjoy eligibility for charitable tax reliefs on foot of decisions by the Revenue Commissioners. The proposed amendments would result in such bodies losing their existing entitlement to certain charitable tax exemptions, which is not the intent of the Bill. I am surprised that amendments were proposed that would affect in a negative way the status of a charity. The Bill is silent on the organisational or legal structure that any charity should have so as not to be too prescriptive and to leave it to charities to choose the appropriate structures for themselves.

The Bill is consciously framed so the sole matters to be taken into consideration when making a determination as to whether the organisation is charitable are the following — the purpose of the organisation and whether there is a public benefit. If statutory bodies meet the criteria to the satisfaction of the new authority, I see no reason they should not be accorded charitable status. The status of the organisation, for example, whether it is incorporated, a trust or a statutory body, should not be the issue in making such determinations, as many voluntary charities also get a considerable amount of State funding.

In a recently published research report by the Centre for Non-profit Management in TCD it was revealed that over two thirds of non-profit organisations in Ireland receive funding from the State. This does not in any way undermine the independence of those charities or the charity sector as a whole.

As well as opposing these amendments from a policy perspective, Deputies will be aware that in other Government Report Stage amendments to be moved, existing organisations that already have charitable tax exemptions — this will include some statutory bodies — will be automatically deemed to be registered as charities. These amendments, if accepted, would also directly conflict with this approach. Therefore, I cannot accept the amendments.

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