Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I also take this opportunity to welcome those present in the Gallery. I thank Senator Mac Conghail and the other Independent Senators for tabling this very important motion. I compliment them on giving us the opportunity to discuss this important subject. I think Senator Daly was not listening when the Minister was speaking, because we are discussing the steps to put fiscal measures in place to ensure we create an environment for financial giving.

We do not have enough discussion on this important subject. It is a shame because Ireland is one of the greatest philanthropic countries in the world and giving is one of the core characteristic of our people. We rate giving highly. We take an interest in others and we support their work and efforts through the donation of our time and money. Many Senators have mentioned the voluntary commitment of people who give their time for the good of others. Heretofore people have raised money and established foundations and given of their time voluntarily. Time is not counted as money at all, but time is money for all those who invested their time in philanthropic foundations.

Today, it is estimated that the total philanthropic income in Ireland is in excess of ¤500 million annually. I am using the word "estimated" and Senator Mac Conghail pointed out that data is essential. The Charities Act will bring that to the fore. It is vital to ensure we collect all of the data. That is a sizeable amount for a country such as Ireland.

Philanthropic societies and donations have many objectives: to bring about lasting change to the lives of the disadvantaged and vulnerable people; in support of higher education, preschool education and education for less advantaged pupils; in projects involving the elderly, human rights and the subject of our business this evening, the arts, and philanthropic giving.

The Irish Funders Forum established in 1998 as a voluntary body is probably one of the first established philanthropic organisations in the country. The name was changed in 2004 to Philanthropy Ireland and a network of between 25 to 30 organisations came under its umbrella. People got up and did it themselves without the help. However, people need help.
The One Foundation was founded in 2004 by Declan Ryan and Deirdre Mortell is its chief executive, a name mentioned by Senator Mac Conghail. The motto of that organisation is "Giving while living". That must be applauded. In the United States, giving for living is fashionable but as SenatorMac Conghail mentioned, legacy giving is important as well because sometimes people just forget and they may not even think about it. If it were promoted, it would open an avenue that people would be thinking about. The dogs and cats home is important and many people leave money to it.

We must acknowledge there are people who did not need Government intervention to give. Irish people are generous and have given to aid programmes or responded to emergency appeals, giving in times of need relative to our population size.

Times have changed. We must adopt change. I congratulate the Minister on publishing the report on the Forum on Philanthropy and Fund-raising. The Minister has commented on it in his contribution.

The arts sector has pointed out that it receives approximately 0.6% of the amount of the ¤500 million raised annually. Income from philanthropy for arts organisations makes up only 3% of their total income and they have pointed out that this is less than half of the proportion of philanthropic sponsorship in other countries, such as the United States and the UK, to name but two, which have a much more highly developed approach to philanthropic supports not alone for the arts and culture, but for all aspects of philanthropic giving. It is clearly the case that while philanthropy is not new, it is not officially well developed in Ireland. Philanthropy for arts and culture, in particular, is underdeveloped in Ireland compared to other sectors in other countries.

I am aware the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, stated he would be addressing this issue. He has addressed it. Deputy Hogan has outlined some of the elements that the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, together with the stakeholders involved in the arts, are working on.

Philanthropy requires close cross-departmental work, due to the crossover into nearly every Department that has needs, be it community, education, welfare, health and the disadvantaged. As Senator van Turnhout said, we and even some of the organisations themselves do not know where the crossover is. It is important that such a survey be done. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, has, as he said, established the forum on philanthropy in 2011 and set it the task of increasing the level of philanthropic and charitable giving along with developing fund-raising capacity and best practices across the sector. It is important to ensure there is best practice and rules and regulations right across every sector when people are asked for money.

There are other findings and recommendations contained in the report also. The Minister has outlined some of them, stating the recommendations will be implemented in the next four years. I will confine my remarks to four of the main recommendations, which includes a national giving campaign. Senator Daly is no longer in the Chamber but we need a national giving campaign because people are good with giving but they need to be told how and given the mechanism and to know what to do for the most effective outcome. The national giving campaign should be aimed at the public, high net worth individuals and corporates to increase their giving. We have high net worth corporates in Ireland and we have seen much of the money go out of the country, be it under various tax schemes. We need to have mechanisms to incentivise corporate high net worth individuals to give. There is a need for better fund-raising capacity, education and training among the not-for-profit sector, and for the creation of a national social innovation fund, supported by the Government and the philanthropic sector. The Forum on Philanthropy and Fund-raising is a public private partnership bringing together the major philanthropic fund-raising groups, voluntary groups and relevant Departments and agencies to help shape and refine a strategy to develop philanthropy and fund-raising, and increase investment in good causes in Ireland. While the emphasis on this initiative has come from the not-for-profit sector, it has been a bottom-up approach, not a top-down approach from the Government. The Government has shown that it is more than happy to support - - - -