Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Charities Regulator, the Charities Regulatory Authority, was established on 16 October 2014 pursuant to the Charities Act 2009. Responsibility for the oversight of the regulator transferred to my Department on its establishment in July 2017 and to me in the delegation of functions in September.

The general function of the regulator is to regulate charitable organisations operating in Ireland in order to increase public trust and confidence in their management and administration. Under the Charities Act 2009, the Charities Regulator is fully independent in the performance of its statutory functions. As of the end December 2017, there  were 9,061 charities registered with the authority.

Part 4 of the Charities Act 2009 was commenced in September 2016 and conferred investigative and enforcement powers on the Charities Regulator, complementing its regulatory powers under Part 3 of the Act. Using these powers, the regulator imposed intermediate sanctions on a charity for the first time in January 2017 and secured its first prosecution against a charity in February 2017. Also during 2017, it commenced statutory investigations into a number of charities. The inspector's report on the first of these investigations was published in July 2017, while the remaining investigations are ongoing.

My officials continue to liaise with the Charities Regulator to review the operation of the legislation to ensure it is operating effectively. In early 2017, on foot of public consultation, the regulator proposed amendments to the Charities Act 2009 in order to ensure consistency and fairness in the accounting and reporting obligations of charities. My Department will be working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to progress these amendments.

If anybody, including the Deputy, has concerns that a charitable organisation is in breach of the Charities Act 2009, he or she should forward details of his or her concerns to the Charities Regulator. All concerns expressed to the regulator are actively reviewed.

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