Joe O'Toole (Independent)

In my 20 years as a Member of the House, this is the first time I have seen the Government's asterisk on one of my amendments on the list, as normally my amendments are copied into other ones. I appreciate the positive news it conveys to me.

The reason I put down this amendment related to the role of the charity trustee and, in light of my earlier comments, the auditor. I saw a conflict in the Bill, as drafted, where it allows for a charity trustee to also be a charity's auditor. With the provisions in section 51, it would allow a charity trustee, or his or her trustee colleagues, to receive a statement from himself as auditor, an obvious conflict of interest. It also conflicts with the requirement of independence on the part of an auditor.

The Committee of Public Accounts is dealing with an auditing issue where there was too close an arrangement. In a perfect scenario, a charity would have an audit committee and an auditor. The audit committee would be chaired by an independent board member. For example, the chair of the audit committee for the Commission of the Houses of the Oireachtas is an outsider, not a member of the commission. He deals directly with the external auditor, in this case the Comptroller and Auditor General, without the presence of the Clerk of the Dáil, the quasi-Secretary General.

The optics are important in such cases, as we have learned from the FÁS matter in recent weeks. It is important that the auditor is not in any way involved as a trustee, director or other position. The independent auditor should be able to produce reports without contact with anyone in the charitable organisation. No registered auditor would agree to the way the Bill was drafted in that he or she could be a charity trustee and auditor at the same time.