David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and commend the Labour Party Members for tabling this motion. As other Members have stated, we all want to put on record our appreciation and recognition of the good work carried out by charities in all our communities across the State and across the island of the Ireland. The work is unquantifiable in monetary terms and it is often said that much of this community and voluntary work, such as the work done by carers, saves the State much money. We need to recognise the work done by this sector at every level.

I thank Mr. Ivan Cooper of The Wheel, the umbrella organisation for the charitable and non-profit sectors, for kindly providing information on this issue which illustrates the significant contribution made by the charity sector. In 2009, there were at least 11,700 organisations employing over 100,000 people as well as involving over 560,000 volunteers and managing a turnover of €5.75 billion.

Sinn Féin has long supported the need to have charities registered. The 2009 Act, long promised and overdue, was widely welcomed by community and voluntary organisations when it was introduced. Until then the charities sector was largely unregulated. It is in the interest of charitable organisations to have proper regulation of the sector. The establishment of a charities regulatory authority is necessary as is the fact charities would be obliged to register. This is vital to ensure accountability and to protect against the abuse of tax-related exemptions granted to charities or fraud by those purporting to be charities. The sector itself also wants this.

Sinn Féin would amend the Charities Act to provide for the recognition of human rights promotion as a charitable activity. The Act was passed into law in February 2009 but it still has not been brought fully into effect. Earlier in the year my colleague in the Lower House, Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, queried why the legislation has not yet been implemented.

Those sections that require charities to provide financial information to a new charities regulatory authority, which will, in turn, make such information available to the public, have not yet been commenced. This motion arises from the view of the Minister, Deputy Shatter, that it is not possible to proceed with the full implementation of the Act for financial reasons and that it should be deferred. This is deeply regrettable. I commend the Labour Party Senators for introducing this motion. I call on the Government to implement this legislation in full.

The full regulation of charities will bring a high level of accountability and transparency to all aspects of the work of charities, including their advocacy work. This is needed by the charitable and non-profit sector. Mr. Ivan Cooper has highlighted the financial difficulties currently being faced by many charities. Almost 60% of charitable organisations have experienced a decrease in income over the past three years. In 60% of those cases, there has been a decrease in income of between 11% and 25%. I hope the Minister of State will agree this is very significant. Many organisations are not fully aware of the ramifications of the Charities Act 2009. Some 20% of non-profitable organisations continue to be unaware of the existence of that legislation. Just 60% of those organisations that are aware of it are prepared for its requirements. The awareness of the need to prepare a statement of guiding principles for fundraising is split three ways, with 37.2% of organisations indicating that they are aware of it and 32.6% not aware of it. The remaining 30% of organisations do not raise funds directly from the public. These organisations are held in high esteem by us all and by the community. If they are not properly regulated, that trust will be undermined. A small minority may abuse this system. We owe it to the charity sector not to allow this to happen and to regulate to that effect.

I will conclude by making a few brief remarks about charity. We all accept that charity is necessary. We all accept that charities do good work. Many charitable organisations would make the point that as a consequence of the policies that are currently being pursued in this country, they are having to fill gaps in order to meet the social and economic needs of many citizens. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, for example, helps some of the poorest people in our society, including those who do not receive the supports from the State that many of us believe they should get. While it is important to have a strong charity sector and for people to make private contributions, it is critically important that charities are not having to fill gaps in the provision of services needed by people that should be filled by the State. It needs to be clearly and robustly stated that the test of any republic is how it treats its citizens, including its most vulnerable citizens. The key responsibility of any state is to vindicate the rights of its citizens. That should be what a government and a state do. We know that the charity sector has stepped into the vanguard by providing services in cases where rights are not being vindicated. We are familiar with the significant work they do. Obviously, we want to limit the need for people to avail of charity in the first place. That cannot happen in the absence of good social planning and good economic policies, such as progressive taxation. It is critically important that the charity sector is supported. It will always play an important role in society, regardless of the economic model being implemented by the Government of the day. For that reason, it needs to be properly regulated. That is why we support the Private Members' Bill that has been tabled.