John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 43:

In page 29, after line 48, to insert the following:

"(17) The Authority shall, as soon as may be after the registration by it in the register of a charitable organisation that is a company, notify the registrar of companies in writing of such registration.".

These amendments were drawn up following discussions with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Company Registrations Office. I thank the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coughlan, and officials from both bodies for their engagement in bringing this matter to a conclusion.

I am very aware of the importance in the sector of minimising the potential of dual reporting requirements for companies to the new charities regulatory authority. This legislation was consciously framed to avoid placing excessive, additional administrative burden on charities while ensuring that the new authority shall have adequate information to enable it to perform its statutory role. These amendments will collectively minimise as far as possible the potential for incorporated charities having to file the same document with two separate regulatory bodies.

In framing these amendments we have deliberately avoided interfering with company law which is wider and more complex than this Bill. However, the complexity of company law and the various exemptions that apply to certain categories of company means that it is theoretically possible that a very small number of incorporated charities may have to provide certain documentation to both bodies for a limited time. If such a scenario should emerge it has been agreed with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment that any such anomalies would be fully addressed in the short term. All companies are required to prepare accounts under company law although some companies do not have to file the accounts with the CRO. An auditor's certificate is sometimes sufficient for certain categories of company.

Under these amendments the Companies Registrations Office will forward the company law annual return and any accounts information attached thereto that it receives from incorporated charities to the new authority, thus removing any potential additional burden for such charities. Any such charities that are exempt from attaching audited accounts to their annual return to the CRO will be required to attach these to their annual report to the authority, as will other non-incorporated charities. The new authority will, as of necessity, be particularly interested in the charitable activities of registered organisations which is not a subject of statutory interest to the register of companies. Therefore, all charities, irrespective of their legal structure, will be required to submit an annual report on their charitable activities to the new authority.

I am committed to prior consultation on the nature of these annual reports. I wish to be helpful and am hopeful that they can be structured in such a way as to ensure that small charities, in particular, are not over-burdened in this context. I reiterate that we will have prior consultation on the preparation of those reports.

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