Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to deal with the reasons given yesterday by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, and reiterated today by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, with regard to the human rights issue. I am very disappointed and it is a missed opportunity that it will not be incorporated into the Charities Act 2009. The reasons given are to do with technical issues for Revenue, but every year the Finance Act introduces a range of technical changes to deal with issues such as this; therefore, it is doable if there was the will to do it. Yesterday the Minister spoke about the five year review built into the Act, but we have waited five years for the Act to be implemented. It will not be implemented this year and is suggested it could be another five years before human rights will be incorporated. That is not acceptable.

I must remind the Minister of State that her colleague, Deputy Joe Costello, is now the Minister of State with responsibility for trade and development and promoting Ireland's track record in human rights. He works with organisations in advancing human rights in Ireland and abroad, particularly abroad, and deals with our overseas aid, of which we are very proud. Per capita we are among the top countries in the world. How can we not include the advancement of human rights in the definition of charitable purposes when one considers all of this? In 2009 the Minister of State, Deputy Joe Costello, enthusiastically argued for the inclusion of human rights in the Bill, but now the Labour Party will vote against this Bill, about which I am disappointed. I do not want to turn it into a big disgrace issue, but I am disappointed and believe the Minister of State knows this is not right. The President, Michael D. Higgins, a man with a huge reputation in promoting human rights, someone of whom we are all very proud and who is internationally renowned and respected, as one can see when he visits various countries representing Ireland, also argued in favour of the inclusion of human rights in the definition of charitable purposes. I do not understand why the amendment cannot be accepted.

The idea of regulating the charity sector did not emerge in 2009. Those who have served in the House for a long time know that the debate has taken place for many years.

One Fine Gael Member recalled debating the issue in 2003. We know for a long time that this needs to happen and that the charity sector is not adequately regulated.

However, there was considerable consultation with the charity sector prior to the publication of the Charities Bill in 2009 and it finally seemed that there would be regulation. The then Government dragged its feet for cost reasons and regulation did not happen. The current Government also did not proceed with it for cost reasons. That was a huge mistake. I fervently believe we would not be debating the CRC and the Rehab Group debacle if that had been done. The Minister chose to put on record matters of profound concern during this debate. I reiterate the calls on those running the Rehab Group to answer questions. They may well have satisfactory explanations regarding what was revealed and I hope they do but they need to answer these questions and restore people's faith.

The Government parties have dragged their feet and there is a crisis in the charity sector. As many Members said, more importantly, this is about our most vulnerable citizens, including the elderly and disabled and those who are sick or ill. All of us have supported charities. They are being damaged by the actions of a few. If regulation had been in place, those actions would not have happened. While it is highly unlikely, I ask the Government to seriously support our Bill. The Minister suggested his Bill could be implemented towards the end of 2014. We should be clear that the legislation is not only about a charities regulator; it is also about a register of charities, the charities appeal tribunal and the consultative panels. A range of infrastructure is required to implement this legislation and not just a regulator.

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