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

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 33, line 23, to delete “88D” and substitute “88C”.

I want to speak to amendment No. 9 first as the remaining amendments are technical in nature. Amendment No. 9 updates Part 6A of the Bill, which relates to the entering of agreements and making of appointments by a charitable organisation. The provisions in Part 6A of the published Bill place the requirement on charities to seek the approval of the Charities Regulator to enter agreements or make appointments with relevant persons. As highlighted on Committee Stage, there was ongoing consideration from an operational and feasibility perspective in respect of the approvals process and its impact on both the regulator and the day-to-day operations of the sector. Following due consideration, it is deemed appropriate to remove the requirement for charities to seek the approval of the Charities Regulator to enter agreements or make appointments under Part 6A. The wording of subsection (5) included in amendment No. 9 will instead require charitable organisations to provide a declaration in respect of agreements entered into and appointments made as part of their annual reporting requirements to the Charities Regulator. Trustees of a charity will still need to satisfy themselves that any such agreement or appointment is in the best interest of the charity and is not in contravention of the organisation's constitution.

I am also proposing to retain a number of important provisions that previously sat in section 88D which will now sit as part of section 88C. The provisions in paragraphs (6), (8), (9) and (10) in amendment No. 9 were previously included under section 88D of the published Bill. With the reconfiguration of Part 6A, these provisions will now sit in section 88C instead. Charity trustees who contravene the provisions of or any regulations made under Part 6A will continue to be guilty of an offence. Paragraph (7) allows for regulations to be made under Part 6A with respect to the basis on which appointments can be made, with the information to be included in the declaration to the Charities Regulator and the information to be recorded as part of the register which charities will be required to keep.

Paragraph (12) clarifies that education bodies and public bodies will be exempt from the requirements to submit an annual declaration and from the requirement to keep a register of agreements and appointments. This reflects the same level of exemption and oversight provided to education and public bodies as approved by Cabinet and contained in the published Bill.

Amendment No. 3 is a technical amendment and of a drafting nature. This amendment updates section 30 of the published Bill and refers to the application of intermediate sanctions in respect of contraventions of the provisions which were previously included in section 88D of Part 6A. The related provisions are now included under section 88C which has necessitated this amendment.

Amendment No. 4 updates the title of Part 6A of the published Bill. The title of this section of the published Bill is "Approval of Certain Agreements and Appointments". As the requirement to seek the approval of the regulator for such agreements and appointments has been removed from the Bill, the title of Part 6A has been updated to reflect this change.

Amendment No. 5 deletes the definition for relevant date in section 34 of the published Bill under section 88A of Part 6A. This definition was included in reference to the process for seeking the approval of the regulator to enter into agreements and make appointments under Part 6A. As the requirement to seek approval has been removed from the provisions in Part 6A, the term "relevant date" is no longer required and can be deleted.

Amendment No. 6 deletes the wording of requirements prescribed under section 88D(6)(b) and substitutes "regulations made under subsection (7)(a)". The updated reference to subsection (7)(a) is a technical amendment and of a drafting nature.

Amendments Nos. 7 and 8 are both technical amendments and of a drafting nature and are required due to the reconfiguration of section 88C.

Amendments Nos. 10 and 11 are technical amendments and of a drafting nature. Amendment No. 10 provides for the deletion of section 88D, which relates to the approval of agreements and appointments. However, as highlighted previously, a number of provisions under section 88D are being retained and will instead sit as part of section 88C.

Amendment No. 11 provides for the deletion of section 88E, which relates to the appeal mechanism to the District Court against the decision of the Charities Regulator. As it is proposed to remove the requirement to seek approval from the Charities Regulator, this appeal mechanism is no longer required and this allows for section 88E to be deleted in its entirety.

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