John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I have given serious thought to this issue. One of the key principles of the Bill is to improve transparency for the benefit of the public regarding the operation of charities. Accordingly, section 77 requires the charity appeal tribunal to hold its hearings in public. I have given this much consideration. In particular circumstances where privacy is considered to be an issue, the Bill provides that the tribunal may, where it considers appropriate, order the identities of the parties to the appeal not to be disclosed. Senator O'Toole wants to go further than that, so I have sat down and considered it. I will try to explain it simply. We have that aspect of it and, as Senator O'Toole said, we have parked the issue of the auditors. We are trying to keep transparency and confidence in the sector. Having moved on the issue of the auditors, and having the section which allows the tribunal to order that the identities to the appeal should not be disclosed, I do not intend to accept the amendment. I have given it considerable thought and do not claim to have all the wisdom. I take Senator O'Toole's point and I know exactly what he is trying to achieve. However, it is a balance between achieving one thing and not losing sight of what we set out to try to do, namely, to provide the transparency which would give confidence to the sector.