Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am raising this because I got several complaints from registered charities that are having huge problems with bogus charities using their names to collect clothes. Criminals who were doing this were traced to a yard in my area in Blanchardstown. A registered charity sent me the following:

Over the last two years we have been fighting to put a stop to bogus collections being done using our name and logo. We found the yard and clothes were being sold and stored and contacted the gardaí in Blanchardstown. Unfortunately there seems to be no law to put a stop to them.

The criminals had a waste collection permit and the charity could not find out why. Even though the criminals were using a bogus charity and its logo, it seems that neither the Charities Regulator nor the Garda could do anything. Some 466 complaints were made to the Charities Regulator and 177 of those were on the legitimacy of an organisation as a charity. Can we have a look at this issue? It is eroding confidence in charities in the community. When people are giving, they want to know that they are giving to the right people.

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