Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille agus tá moladh mór tuilte ag an Teachta Mac Lochlainn. Ceist tábhacht agus ceist atá i mbéal an phobail mar gheall ar an méid atá le cloisteáil i gcoistí an tOireachtas, sna páipéir, sna meáin agus an rud atá ag tarlú sa CRC agus áiteanna eile. Níl dabht ar bith go bhfuil dóigh níos fearr de dhíth faoi choinne cultúr níos foirfe ná a bhí ann go dtí seo ó thaobh na ngrúpaí carthanachta. Tá na grúpaí carthanachta ag iarraidh go mbeadh níos mó freagracht ann, go mbeadh an reachtaíocht i bhfeidhm agus tá an pobal ag tabhairt tacaíocht leis sin. Caithfidh an tAcht ó 2009 a chur i bhfeidhm go huile is go hiomlán. An sprioc atá ag Sinn Féin ná go mbeadh reachtaíocht de chuid an Teachta Mac Lochlainn i bhfeidhm. Cuirim fáilte roimh an méid a bhí le rá ag an Aire go mbeadh rialóir ann roimh an gCáisc. Sin páirt amháin ach tá cuid mhaith eile de dhíth. Mar a chítear sa reachtaíocht atá os ár gcomhair anocht, bhí bearnaí ann ó thaobh reachtaíocht de i 2009, go háirithe ó thaobh grúpaí a bhí ag obair ar son cearta daonna. Ba chóir é sin a cheartú agus is féidir é sin a dhéanamh trí thacaíocht a thabhairt don reachtaíocht seo.

There undoubtedly is a need for a more accountable culture, for which both the charities and the public are calling out. The Act of 2009 must be implemented and this Bill would force the Government to so do. While an unimplemented Act is of no use to anyone, I welcome the commitment given by the Government that a charities regulator will be established by Easter. However, this comprises only part of the solution, and the adoption of the legislation that has been drafted by Deputy Mac Lochlainn on behalf of the Sinn Féin party would be a welcome and major step towards bringing accountability to this culture. The charity sector is a large one and does some excellent work, but like all large sectors in the economy it needs regulation to be effective and to prevent it from being abused. However, unlike other large sectors, such as the banking sector in particular, there is no resistance from the charities sector towards regulation - indeed, the charities are demanding it. The sooner the Act is implemented in full, the better for all. The inclusion of human rights work as an eligible charitable function is worthy of everyone's support. Its omission from the Act must be rectified and I believe this Bill deserves the support of every Deputy in the Chamber this evening.

This debate is being held in the context of an almighty scandal that has been revealed in the media through committees of this House and which has gripped public attention in respect of what has been going on in some sections of the charitable sector. I say "some" because it is unfortunate that the fall-out from the scandal has affected all charities and the great work many of them have done. Moreover, it has affected those who depend on the work of those charities. The public was quite rightly shocked by the revelations that emerged regarding the culture of excessive pay and top-ups prevalent at the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC.

I have heard from all sides of this House, commentators, Independents and those from political parties right up to Cabinet level saying this should not have happened and that Mr. Kiely should return the money that was paid to him. It is worth noting that some of that money no longer resides with Mr. Kiely because some of it was taxable and the Revenue collected approximately €130,000 of Mr. Kiely's €740,000 pay-off. It would be an important step for the Government to indicate tonight that the money collected by the Friends and Supporters of the CRC, which was never intended to line Mr. Kiely's pockets or the coffers of the Revenue, should be returned to the Friends and Supporters of the CRC so the services for which they raised that money can continue to be provided. It would be a small step but it would be a first step for us towards trying to recoup the overall costs of the diversion of that much needed charitable fund-raising money to an area where it should never have gone. It would be welcome if the Minister were to announce such an initiative tonight.

The CRC debacle points to a larger problem of poor corporate governance, an unhealthy culture in some bodies and undoubtedly to a cosy golden circle of appointees close to certain political parties. TASC has published detailed research on the need for a more transparent system of public appointments. Its 2010 report, Mapping the Golden Circle, shows in detail how a cosy consensus exists and how corporate governance is in need of drastic modernisation and improvement. That report showed that in the heyday of the Celtic tiger, among 40 of Ireland's largest companies a "director network" of 39 individuals held multiple directorships on at least two boards across 33 of the 40 companies examined. These represented one in 14 of the total group of directors serving on these boards during the period under review. Even now this culture prevails. As we have seen with the banks there is a persistent and obscene culture of high pay among executives and, in the case of the banks, no political desire to rock the boat.

There is still a lack of diversity in the executive levels. Very few women are breaking through the glass ceiling and governance suffers as a result. Another issue is individuals holding multiple directorships across companies or bodies. Each of these issues must be tackled head on and a proper republican culture of merit should win through. That is the challenge before us, and this Government should support this Bill as a small first step. We must end the old boys' club in every aspect of our society. A rotten culture of cronyism has been allowed develop and has been left unchallenged for far too long. Again I ask the Minister to instruct the Revenue to return the €130,000 bagged by it from Mr. Kiely's top-up and pay it back to the Friends and Supporter of the CRC. Nobody in this House believes that payment was right and it definitely should not have come from people who were out on the streets collecting for services.

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