Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

In 2019, my Department published Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities: A Five-Year Strategy to Support the Community and Voluntary Sector in Ireland 2019-2024. The strategy reaffirms the Government’s commitment to supporting the sector and addressing some of the burdens faced by service providers, while also recognising the reality of finite resources and the need to ensure that available resources are focused on providing effective services.

The strategy commits to developing appropriate compliance and monitoring arrangements and supporting capacity in the sector to meet them. Actions include reviewing the appropriateness of regulatory compliance requirements; developing and implementing a strategy to reduce, streamline and standardise all public-funded programme and regulatory monitoring, reporting and compliance requirements, where appropriate; and resourcing and supporting organisations to fulfil compliance requirements.

The implementation of the strategy is being overseen by the cross-sectoral group on local and community development, which supports my Department in the prioritisation of objectives and actions to be progressed within the framework of annual work plans.

It is also important to note that some community groups are also registered charities and as such are bound by the requirements of charity legislation. The amendments contained in the forthcoming charities (amendment) Bill aim to strengthen the charities sector, ensuring greater transparency, clarity and fairness, which will serve to enhance public confidence in charities.

I recognise the need for proportionate regulation and governance requirements for our charities. In many cases, the Bill will actually ease the administrative burden on smaller charities and it will also further enhance and empower both existing trustees and potential trustees by giving greater clarity in respect of roles and responsibilities. The charities Bill is a key step that needs to be implemented to allow for the appropriate regulation, particularly financial regulation, of the sector. I will give the Deputy a little bit more information about a needs assessment we are doing on different levels of charities in my follow-up.

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