Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

This Bill has been a long time coming. Various community groups are watching its progress in the Houses and are awaiting the outcome with bated breath. Six or seven years ago, when I was Chairman of the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, I was fast to advocate it. We explored this issue and spent some time not only working through what we should be doing but also examining what was occurring in other countries. One of the committee's visits was to New Zealand, which had in that year introduced its legislation in this regard and established the role of chief executive or commissioner. The more we read up on the issue, the more we realised how difficult it was and how many people had problems they wanted addressed. This is the case in respect of human rights and sports bodies in different countries. When they were excluded, they sought to be included, and when they were included, they sought to be excluded. It depends on the regime that is introduced. Sometimes a regime can tie the organisations in knots administratively.

I am glad that the Minister of State's legislation demonstrates an attempt to minimise, rather than maximise, the tying up of what are essentially volunteers with administration. Any body that has already qualified for charitable status will be automatically considered for registration. This is a very important step.

One section of the Bill states its provisions will not be commenced automatically when it is signed into law. Having watched the process in other countries, I realise it takes some time to bed down such legislation and to get it up and running. I welcome the Minister of State's comment that a review will be mandatory in five years to determine what is working well. This is welcome regarding any legislation but this Bill in particular. Having explored the issue a few years ago, I understand it is never as clear as it seems to be. Everybody has his or her own view on it.

I spoke to the Minister of State previously about sports organisations. They feel that if they are not included, they will lose out in terms of tax incentives or supports. The Minister of State responded by saying there will not be an advantage or disadvantage and he will probably return to this matter when concluding.

Fundamentally, the legislation is desperately needed. As everyone has said, there is no oversight although €2 billion passes through the relevant organisations. While I do not want to refer to current controversies, I must state no organisation can operate as successfully when not being watched as it can when being watched. Sometimes, with regard to some of the very big organisations, money is spent on everything except what one believes it is for. It is important that this message be circulated. That one will be able to see in a book or on the Internet how much is being spent on administration and on the cause for which money was donated will allow one to contribute knowledgeably to charities that are spending money on what it should be spent on. This might seem like common sense but unless one sees the expenditure figures in black and white, one makes assumptions that the money one is donating will really make a difference. This is not necessarily occurring to the desired level and that is why this legislation is very important.

Having said that makes me sound as if I am bashing the charities. I do not want to come across as doing so because, as I stated, a phenomenal amount of good work is being done. That some €2 billion is passing through the system means there are many people who value the voluntary work taking place in many sectors and in every community nationally. In this regard, one should consider the moneys made available to sports organisations that decided they wanted a new boxing club or pitch for soccer, Gaelic games or rugby. In speaking on this Bill I commend the trojan work done by a small number of volunteers and I encourage people to get involved in volunteering. If putting matters on a regulatory compliance framework yields more confidence in the system, more volunteers will be attracted to become involved in this important work.

On the issue of presumption of public benefit for religious charities, many people focused on a small abuse, namely, that of certain Mass cards. The last sentence of the Minister of State's speech in that context stated that the provision should not affect existing religious charities which will be deemed automatically to be registered. That is important and it is the usual situation. One does not want the one or two concerns that do things the wrong way to ruin it for everyone else. It is important that there be regulations and compliance but we must not have a situation where everyone is penalised for the misdeeds of the few.

I already alluded to the issue of reconsideration within five years. I am very pleased that under section 14 the authority has been declared to be an independent body that will have strong regulatory powers. However, the Minister of State rushed on to say that this was not to be understood as a matter merely of the big stick and that it included being supportive of charities, of public confidence and of the interaction between them. Transparency speaks for itself because the register will supply that. I am reminded of the fishing industry where the regulatory authority comes into play and it seems to be all big stick and no carrot. That is a tremendously important role.

I thought the Minister of State's speech was exceptional in that there were so many such caveats. He stated he was willing to listen, that he could return and check that everything was going well and, if it were not, that he would deal with it. That should give great confidence to all 7,000 organisations currently operational. I wish the Minister of State well with the development of this Bill.

We have put forward clarifications in respect of sporting bodies. In some countries these have been clamouring to get in and in others they are clamouring to be kept out of such regulation. My view is that paper filing should be kept to a minimum and this will then be an important stride forward for the volunteers of the country.