Dan Boyle (Green Party)

We should not have the validity of well recognised organisations being questioned and uncertainty over their future because of a Bill that is 90% excellent in what it proposes to achieve. The Bill aimed to achieve that at its inception, when it was presented as a scheme by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The fact that it cannot do so now means that either spurious challenges will be made against these organisations or bodies will be formed that will have their validity questioned in future. There will be a need for future legislation to amend this prior to the review mentioned in this legislation. I am stating that while acknowledging that I will be voting for the Government and against the amendments. The least the Minister can do is bring out regulations, at the earliest opportunity, to define and protect the role of organisations that currently find themselves in this position. The regulations should also define how other organisations, that may come into being under similar circumstances, can be afforded similar protection. If our legislation is not complete, we could find ourselves in difficulties in future because the valuable work of well recognised and publicly accepted organisations is being challenged by someone who disagrees with them politically. The political system should not adopt that approach.

I reluctantly accept that because unelected influences may have had an effect on the Bill and they have been given a weight that is disproportionate to what their individual concerns should be, it will result in a Bill that is missing an important element. How does the Minister of State intend to allay the concerns that will remain until the legislation is eventually completed under the five-year review or, hopefully, though amending legislation? We may feel obliged to propose such amendments because others have been successful in arguing against the issue.

Coalition Government is about give and take, and winning and losing arguments. The most important argument that has been won concerning this Bill, given what was absent from the original draft legislation, is the issue of advocacy. Advocacy is essential in civic society, including all voluntary and charitable organisations, in order to hold a mirror up to the type of society in which we live. The fact that advocacy is now very much part of the Bill will allay some of the ongoing concerns about human rights organisations. It is more important to have a Bill that recognises the charitable intent and purpose of organisations, whatever their historical background. In that way we can hold up a mirror to reflect society and force Governments and the political system generally to account for that. The inclusion of advocacy in the Bill makes it somewhat easier for me to support it, but it will not totally allay my unhappiness that there is a lacuna in the legislation that will eventually have to be filled.