Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Departments should also consider charities from a business-oriented perspective in order to analyse their efficiency in reaching their targets. We need to know the impact of a charity's work. In other countries the Internet is widely used to better inform consumers. The website run by the non-profit organisation Charity Navigator evaluates charities in the United States and rates them on a zero to four star basis. A similar system should be in operation in this country because it would provide an in-depth analysis for the customer, namely, the person who is donating.

I wish to comment on one charity with which I was personally involved and which is very close to Ireland. The said charity was the subject of debate in the House and I tabled an amendment in respect of it. My amendment was accepted and this led to the relevant Bill being returned to the Lower House. The Bill in question which related to the George Mitchell scholarship was passed by the Dáil and brought before this House, including a reference to money to be spent in the State. However, George Mitchell scholarships are awarded to US students who wish to come to Ireland to study courses relating to peace in many cases. Under the terms of the legislation to which I refer, these students would not have been covered if their studies took them north of the Border. I argued with the then Minister who informed me that there was a problem. However, my amendment was accepted on Report Stage and the Bill was subsequently returned to the Lower House.

I am enthusiastically in favour of the charity involved in this regard, the US-Ireland Alliance, but I was stunned when Charity Navigator gave it a one star rating. Overall, it was awarded 39.9 points out of a possible 70. In terms of accountability and transparency, it was awarded 30 points out of a total of 70. Charity Navigator also states audited financial accounts prepared by an independent accountant were not provided by the charity. In addition, no key staff of the US-Ireland Alliance are listed on the charity's website. For the financial year 2012, it received almost $3 million in revenue. The charity has expenses of approximately $1 million and net assets of over $7 million. Over 17% of the organisation's expenses goes towards paying the salary of its CEO. I do not want to go off topic, but this is an organisation which sends just 12 American students to Ireland every year to study. It is very easy for the customer to analyse whether this is value for money. A similar organisation, the Asia Foundation in California, received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator. I would be interested in obtaining the Minister of State's views on whether she is of the view that the US-Ireland Alliance offers value for money. Perhaps other Members might examine this and similar cases.

In the context of the salaries of CEOs, there is further murkiness. A report in June indicated that four charities which shared millions of euro in State funding each year had refused to reveal how much their chief executives were paid. Senator Jillian van Turnhout highlighted this fact. While greater transparency will, I hope, mean more donations in the long term, some charities must move away from the murkiness that surrounds them.

A website in the United States, DonorsChoose.org, allows people to donate to projects in American schools, which is extremely interesting. The organisation in question collects proposals from teachers and makes them available to public schools through its website. Individual donors can then select projects and contribute as much as they can afford to them. DonorsChoose.org then purchases necessary supplies and ships them directly to the schools. All donors receive photographs of the project and a letter from the teacher. Donors who contribute $50 or more to a project also receive a package of hand-written thank you notes from the students involved. This is a smashing idea, particularly as it is imaginative. Websites such as DonorsChoose.org are thriving because they provide charitable donors with information on the use to which every cent they receive is put. The establishment of a similar, Government-run, website in this country would be a step in the right direction. Without transparency, charities here are placing themselves at a real disadvantage.

From the perspective of the private sector, would it be possible for the Government to give further encouragement to businesses to donate to charities? Working with charities can bring benefits which businesses may not have contemplated. When I was involved in the supermarket business, we discovered that customers much preferred bread which was only a couple of hours old. We took two steps, namely, putting in place little clocks on the shelves to show how old our bread was and making the decision not to sell bread that was over four hours old. Our accountants went berserk because each night we were obliged to give any bread that was over four hours old to various charities. However, our customers were extremely happy because they could only buy very fresh bread. In addition, we did very well because we sold much more bread. The charities also did very well. As our shops closed each night, representatives of local charities queued to obtain the bread to which I refer. That was a real win-win. Many similar opportunities could be seized by those who are minded to take them. I strongly encourage the Government to help to ensure retailers and restaurants are in a position to give away leftover food to local charities for distribution to those who are most in need. The Government could set an example by ensuring all leftover food from the canteens and restaurants in Departments, Government agencies, etc., is given to charity.

I am delighted that we have been given this opportunity to comment on the activities of charities. This area must have the cloak removed from it in order that we might see what is happening. Such a development would ensure charities, those who donate to them and the nation as a whole would benefit.