John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State's response was fairly general. I understand the circumstances in which it perhaps might be general. Can he comment on whether this particular charity is engaging in fundraising activities at the moment? That is the first point. Has it been engaging in fundraising activities since the launch of the investigation?

The Minister of State said the Charities Regulator had been engaging with Bóthar since early 2020 on foot of concerns raised about the charity. Can he explain what engagement means? What is the difference between engagement and investigation by the Charities Regulator? What powers does the Charities Regulator have with regard to this engagement?

Does that charity continue to fundraise? Is the Minister of State aware of any State grants or State funding that have gone to Bóthar? I am making an assumption that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine would be involved but I could be wrong. I am just making the connection because livestock are involved but I refer to any Department. Has any funding continued since the Charities Regulator began to engage with Bóthar in 2020? Has the Minister of State's Department provided any funding to that charity since engagement with the Charities Regulator began in 2020?

Can the Minister of State give us a little bit more granular detail? There is an awful lot more in the press and in the public domain than was contained in his statement this morning. The statement was quite disappointing given the extensive coverage in the print media over the last three or four months, and particularly in the last few weeks because of particular circumstances. There is significantly more detail in the national media than what was presented in the Minister of State's statement today, which was disappointing. That is not a comment on him but on the information he has been given despite what is available to the public through the media. Responsible broadsheet print media have covered this extensively.

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