John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

Pre-signed mass cards have been an issue for some time. We are in consultation with the Attorney General and I hope I can bring forward an amendment in that regard on Report Stage. There is an Opposition amendment on the same issue down for debate today.

Following the Second Stage contributions regarding public representatives being precluded from membership of the new authority, I expect to make recommendations and changes in that regard on Report Stage. On foot of legal advice I will propose an increase in the maximum permitted membership of the new authority to enable it to fulfil its wide range of statutory functions. I also propose to tighten up some of the references to terrorism and terrorist activities. Those amendments will be brought forward on Report Stage. I mention this in order that Members will know our intentions regarding some of the key issues that have been raised in the House.

Amendments Nos. 1, 5, 30, 32 and 33 are proposed on foot of discussions with the Department of Education and Science and the Office of the Attorney General. At present, educational bodies such as schools, students' councils, parents' associations and vocational education committees are subject to oversight by the Department of Education and Science and, on occasion, by other bodies, such as the Committee of Public Accounts. The ethos of the Charities Bill is not to impose a significant additional administrative burden on any organisation. I propose that educational bodies be required to register and provide an annual report to the charity regulatory authority every year but that they be exempt from the audit and accounting provisions of the Bill. Many of these educational bodies are already required to keep and submit accounts to other bodies and it will be within the remit of the authority under section 53 to request these and any other information it requires from these bodies where the need arises.

In keeping with the graduated approach to regulation, I recognise that many charities are extremely small, with limited resources to enable them to comply with the requirements of the Bill. In the case of such charities with an income or expenditure of less than €10,000 per annum, I am providing that they be exempted from the accounts and audit or examination provisions of the Bill. It would be unreasonable to expect a charity of that size to produce examined accounts although, as with the educational bodies, they will be required to produce an annual report, which may also contain financial information. Bear in mind that the authority is empowered under section 53 to request information from any charity, even small charities, where it considers it appropriate.

I believe these amendments strike an appropriate balance and provide fair and equitable oversight, while minimising the compliance burden for the organisations concerned.