Results 5,581-5,600 of 6,728 for speaker:John Curran
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: The Deputy is correct that the purpose of the Bill is to maintain the status quo. As at present with regard to the Revenue Commissioners, human rights per se is not recognised as a charitable purpose yet organisations like Amnesty International are registered and will automatically be deemed to be registered with the new authority. The central point is that this legislation was drawn up to...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: None of the amendments we are considering refer to human rights.
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: The Deputy is correct that this area has been extremely complex. I inherited the Bill in the course of its passage through the Oireachtas and two of my predecessors as Minister of State, Deputies Pat Carey and Noel Ahern, dealt with the earlier Stages. The underlying issue was that while this is complex, we are trying to maintain the status quo. We are considering what Revenue has done....
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: These amendments have been grouped as they relate to charitable trusts. While it is unlikely there are many, if any, single trustee charities, on the basis of legal advice, amendment No. 2 amends the definition of body to cater for such a scenario. Amendments Nos. 3 and 4 are technical amendments. They provide for necessary redefinitions of charitable organisations and trusts arising from...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: I reiterated the position regarding human rights and the position for existing charities. I specifically set out the charitable purposes for which new charities could be recognised. That maintains the status quo. I refer to the remarks of Deputy Wall on the wider issue of trustees and trust law. There is a difference between the wider issue and the matter with which we are dealing. I...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: This grouping includes amendments made on the basis of legal advice, principally to clarify matters. One of my basic aims for the legislation was to make charities secure from takeover or from being undermined or misused by criminal or terrorist groups. It is vital this does not occur. Concerns were expressed by Senators during the passage of the Bill through the Seanad and similar...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: I thank Deputies for their support.
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: This grouping includes drafting amendments proposed on the basis of legal advice and are essentially for presentational purposes. Amendment No. 7 is a drafting amendment only, removing text considered to be superfluous. Instead of stating what is "regarded as being" a charitable purpose the revised wording explicitly refers to what "will" be a charitable purpose. Amendment No. 39 is purely...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: This group relates to the issue of public benefit. Amendments Nos. 8 and 9 are similar in that they remove some text that on reflection was considered to be unnecessary. My advice was that a purpose is either charitable or not and that the use of the phrase "regarded as a charitable purpose" was not required in legal terms. In respect of amendment No. 10, since the earlier debates on this...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: I thought Deputy Ring was going to open a whole other subject.
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: Deputy Ring is right to mention dubious religious organisations and their adverse effect. There may well be other avenues by which to deal with them but following the Opposition suggestions, I was adamant that there would be no refuge for them in this legislation. There may be other things to do but in regard to this Bill I was happy to be able to respond in particular to Deputy Wall's...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: This is a technical amendment inserted on legal advice. The Bill has always separated the decisions of the new Charities Regulatory Authority from those of the Revenue Commissioners in respect of tax matters. It is not appropriate for the new authority to have any role in respect of tax matters which are the domain of the Minister for Finance and the Revenue Commissioners alone. Every...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: Existing charities are registered with the Revenue Commissioners and will automatically be deemed as such by the authority. From thereon the independence of Revenue is maintained throughout this legislation.
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: Technically that could happen but the independence of each organisation is maintained.
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: Before we start to discuss the specific amendments before the House today, I briefly want to clarify for Members why I am returning to the House with more than 80 amendments to the Bill as originally passed by the House in last November. The amendments fall into a number of categories and a good proportion of them are presentational, drafting and technical type amendments on the advice of...
- Charities Bill 2007: From the Seanad (11 Feb 2009)
John Curran: The amendments before us do not refer specifically to human rights. However, as the issue has been raised by many speakers, I would like to address it. To be fair, the issue of human rights has received considerable debate at different Stages in this and the other House. I reiterate that "charitable purposes" as provided for in section 3 mirror those changes developed in common law over...
- Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (10 Feb 2009)
John Curran: The RAPID Programme aims to ensure that priority attention is given to tackling the spatial concentration of poverty and social exclusion within the 46 designated RAPID areas. In addition, the RAPID leverage schemes support small-scale projects identified locally by the Area Implementation Teams in each of the RAPID areas. These schemes are co-funded by the relevant agencies and fund...
- Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (10 Feb 2009)
John Curran: The Project to which the Deputy refers was funded under the Community Development Programme since 2004, receiving funding in excess of â¬371,000 under the Programme in that time. The Project was advised late last year by their auditors and legal advisors to close the Project, which occurred early December 2008. Department officials are investigating alternative mechanisms for delivering on...
- Written Answers — Drug Treatment Programme: Drug Treatment Programme (10 Feb 2009)
John Curran: Between 2005 and 2008, the North Eastern Regional Drugs Task Force (NERDTF) was allocated the following funding to implement their strategic plan: 2005 â â¬410,000; 2006 â â¬636,410; 2007 â â¬891,644; 2008 â â¬1,082,902. This funding covers a number of projects across the region in the areas of prevention, education, treatment, rehabilitation and family support. In addition to...
- Written Answers — Social Inclusion Programme: Social Inclusion Programme (10 Feb 2009)
John Curran: The process of awarding the new LDSIP contract to the company mentioned by the Deputy, which will apply to the whole county of Meath, has not yet been completed. My Department, in conjunction with Pobal, is seeking to finalise some issues with the process of awarding the contract and I am hopeful that this can be brought to a conclusion shortly.