John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I do not disagree with the points the Deputy has made. When we go through the various amendments and have discussed them we also need to be conscious of the effect it will have on genuine charities. One of the things the Deputy has stressed all along was that we should not over-regulate. We want a balance. We have been in discussions with the sector to establish a non-statutory code of good practice, but this requires the buy-in of the entire sector. The legislation provides reserve powers to the Minister if the code does not work.

We are working in partnership with the charities without being overly prescriptive or creating too many difficulties. While the preferred option is a voluntary code of good practice, I assure the House that the Minister will have reserved powers if the code does not prove effective.

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