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

Sinn Féin will be supporting this Bill. The charities sector plays a very important role in the provision of vital health, education, addiction and homeless services, community development and many other services in Ireland. The Bill has gone through very thorough pre-legislative scrutiny and many of the issues that were raised have been addressed. I thank groups such as The Wheel, the Charities Institute, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and fellow TDs and the Minister who engaged throughout the process. I was happy to be able to raise some of the concerns and issues in relation to the Bill.

Some of the issues we raised with the Minister, which were addressed, include that charities have to produce accounts at the point at which they have to get their accounts audited. A "significant event" was something we discussed at length, and that has been addressed. The advancement of human rights, which is a really important issue, has been included as a valid charitable purpose. This is very welcome. We strongly argued that advocacy is a very important aspect of the work of many of the organisations working on the ground, dealing with many of the difficulties and struggles in our communities. They also need to advocate on a political level to try to ensure that those difficulties and struggles are eliminated or reduced. I welcome the Bill and the engagement by the Minister throughout the process.

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