Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I wish to congratulate you on your new role and wish you well. I thank the Social Democrats for moving this motion in the House. Sadly, it is a timely motion, as has been pointed out by many Deputies. In total, the regulator is engaged with in excess of 12,500 charitable organisations active in Ireland at the moment. These charities and the broader community and voluntary sector in partnership with the State help to deliver social and health services. This partnership is long-established. While many Deputies might be critical of this model, it is one we must continually hone and improve to deliver better services, better standards in quality assurance and better value for money for the State. We have had problems in the past and we have made necessary changes as a Government and a society. I do not believe this situation is any different. Regulation of the charitable sector must be a priority and I know that it is a priority for this Government.

Unfortunately, during the past two weeks much time has been taken up with the fall-out from Console. Considerable work has been undertaken within the Department, the HSE and the various stakeholders to provide a practical solution to save Console's vital front-line services. The top priority has been to ensure that the services remain and that those who are availing of the services can continue to avail of them. Naturally, while we must be careful not to jeopardise any legal proceedings that possibly would take place outside of this House, it is safe to say that the range and scale of allegations surrounding Console now in the public domain go against the very ethos and spirit of charity law, company law and tax law in the State. Above all, they go against the very ethos and spirit of who we are as a people and a nation. The essence of any code of laws in a country holds that we expect people to adhere to them and abide by them. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and problems can arise in cases where a voluntary organisation or charitable body is involved in work and people have put in their own time and energy as well as fund raising. Often the function of the charity is close to the heart of those involved in such cases. This makes it all the more upsetting and there is an extraordinary breach of trust. We have seen this previously with scandals at Rehab, the Central Remedial Clinic and other organisations. However, those cases brought about the reforms of the Charities Regulatory Authority and in that regard, I welcome the move of the Minister to sign the necessary commencement order last week to commence Part 4 of the Act, which we will see in effect from 5 September. I welcome the increase in funding by the Minister. This will facilitate recruitment of additional staff in key areas, including policy development, registration and reporting, compliance and investigations and communications. As the Minister has said, it will take time for any new body to establish itself. The registration of organisations takes time. Now more than ever we need to ensure that public trust in the sector, which was slowly starting to rebuild, is not lost. We need to ensure that the revelations give us an opportunity to drive on the implementation of the changes that are needed in regulation in the sector. We can play our part as well. All State agencies providing funding to the charity sector must ensure these funds are properly managed. Again, in that regard, I welcome the review of all section 38 providers being conducted by external consultants. This is already under way. The purpose of these reviews is to establish the standards of governance in place in these organisations and to confirm independently that the governance practices and procedures accord with those set out in their annual compliance statements. The annual compliance statements, which are to be completed by the chairman of the board of each section 38 service provider, certify that the organisation is compliant with the necessary governance required. While this process currently only applies to section 38 agencies, it will be extended to section 39 agencies from November 2016, an important development. While there are 40 section 38 organisations funded under the Health Act, some 2,392 section 39 agencies are funded. That is important as well.

This is something of a new landscape for charitable organisations and donors. However, I believe that continued regulation will ensure that the sector and those it serves are better protected from the greedy, selfish and amoral individuals who have brought such disgrace to themselves and cast such clouds of doubt over the bona fides of every charitable organisation in Ireland. They must not and will not be allowed to destroy our faith in the goodness of human nature or support for the invaluable work of the charities sector.

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