Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The recent revelations about the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, have raised significant public concern at the failure of the Government to regulate the charities sector. This was compounded by the information provided last night by the Minister for Justice and Equality about the funding activities of the Rehab charity and the refusal over some time by its chief executive to provide details of her salary.

In the case of the CRC, funding raised by the Friends and Supporters of the Central Remedial Clinic group was used to provide top-up allowances to senior staff. All of this is now in the public consciousness. Last year, this amounted to €250,000. In December, the CRC’s former chief executive told the Committee of Public Accounts that he was given €200,000 when he left the organisation, which came from charitable donations. A kid caught robbing from the poor box in the chapel would be in Mountjoy Prison. Then it was revealed the CRC’s former chief executive actually received a severance package of €740,000. Ceapaim go n-aontaíonn achan duine liom nuair a deirim nach bhfuil aon rud mhaith ag baint leis an tsaint. It is estimated that half of the €1.5 million raised last year from charity work by the CRC was used to pay top-ups to its former chief executive.

I have a friend, Donnacha Rynne, whose mother, Anne, recently wrote a letter to The Irish Times which I want to read into the Official Report.

A chara,

I have been following the story of the CRC and the top-ups for its executives.

I am the mother of a severely disabled man [my friend, Donnacha] who has been bed-bound for the past year partly because there is no money to purchase a new wheelchair for him. He is on an emergency list for a wheelchair, but we are told that due to lack of funds he will have to wait.

I feel sick I am so upset

Is mise,

Anne Rynne,

Miltown Malbay, County Clare.

Families who raised millions of euro over many years to supplement the moneys the CRC received from the health service are shocked and angry at this week and last week’s revelations. Many are upset at what they see as a breach of trust. What is also clear is that there is a toxic culture of bonuses, top-ups and bailouts where there is always money for the elites but none for the services that the charities were established to provide.Tá daoine ar buile agus tuigim cén fáth. Ní thuigeann daoine bochta ná teaghlaigh faoi strus na rudaí a tharla an tseachtain seo ná leis an CRC agus carthanachtaí eile.

These citizens are especially fearful because they feel the public will become sceptical - the public do have the right to be - about giving money to a charity which uses these moneys to pay already well-paid officials. This is evidence of cronyism at its worst. What is also striking is that these elites believe they are entitled to these large payments. This is not just confined to the charities sector but exists across every sector. This is a toxic mix which has been in this State for a long time. The can of worms has only slightly been opened up so far. I believe we are going to see more of these types of revelations.

We need to tell and assure the people this will be sorted and fixed. However, it cannot be fixed in the piecemeal way the Government is going about it. There is evidence there has been no regulation of charities or most other sectors since the State was established. Human nature being what it is, especially in a post-colonial society like this, and with the absence of transparency, accountability and regulation in every sector, one will see the abuses, scandals and controversies that have affected us all in recent times.

The initial legislation concerning charities regulation was brought forward in 2007, legislated for in 2009 but never implemented. The Government has been in office for three years but has simply sat on it. Níl rud ar bith déanta acu.

When Deputy Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister in February 2012 why the Government had not implemented the Bill, he was told it could not be done as there were too many financial and staffing difficulties, so the Act had to be deferred. The Minister also claimed that it was not the fact that charities were devoid of oversight. While I appreciate and applaud some of the steps the Minister has taken, the oversight referred to by him has been woefully inadequate. The culture of jobs for the boys, of golden circles and of elites has to be tackled. This recession will go. My main fear all the time, however, is that the fat cats, who never had a recession in the first place, will still be in charge when the recession is over. They will re-invent themselves, re-circle while the ordinary punters, whose kids have had to go America, bear the brunt of the recession or, like in the case of my friend, Donnacha Rynne, be confined to bed for a year because a wheelchair is not available due to no money.

A starting point in tackling this would be the speedy and full implementation of the Charities Act. I do not buy the Government backbenchers’ claim that they have to wait for the human rights issue to be dealt with. That is not appropriate. We already know what piecemeal approaches bring to us.

A recent survey found one in five charities is facing a 10% dip in donations, even before the CRC scandal. It must be borne in mind that these charities are providing services which the State should be providing anyway. If the State was based genuinely on republican core values, these citizens with disabilities would have society shaped, ordered and organised to allow them to have the fullest life possible. It will only get worse if the Government keeps bringing in cuts and the public stops giving to charities because of the recent scandals.

I praise the charities made up of people who deeply care for the causes in which they are involved. Their integrity, honesty, generosity and their honour has been besmirched by those in the leadership of some of these agencies. Will the Minister reflect on this debate? It is above party politics. Will the Minister accept the regulation of charities needs to be dealt with now fully? Deputy Mac Lochlainn’s Bill is about achieving that.

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