Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is quite amusing to hear Senator MacSharry call the comments of the Tánaiste on potential future tax reform cynical given his performance in this House on a number of occasions.

I welcome the fact the Garda has cancelled an urgent alert regarding a Roscommon woman and her three children, which was raised after the family had been last seen at approximately 3 p.m. yesterday. Aside from the fact the family is safe and sound and receiving help it is reassuring to know the child rescue Ireland, CRI, alert system was successful in this instance. Such an alert is only launched where a child is under the age of 18, where there is a reasonable belief there is an immediate risk to the health and welfare of the child and there is sufficient information to enable the public to help in locating the child. I congratulate the Garda and the PSNI on the successful outcome in this instance.

I also welcome the Revenue extension of the filing deadline for property tax. There has been a bit of a steep learning curve for the Revenue Commissioners in this particular instance but they have shown themselves willing to listen to the public. They have made it clear those who have contacted Revenue and left a message to state they may not get in before the deadline will be deemed to have met the deadline. I hope the learning from this experience will be taken on board by the Revenue Commissioners for next year.

Yesterday at the Public Accounts Committee it was revealed the fundraising arm of the Central Remedial Clinic has €14 million sitting in a bank account. I am very concerned as to why the money is sitting there. There have been a number of controversies recently relating to HSE pay which have impacted on the confidence people have in the charity sector, particularly when it is given to be understood the money people donate in good faith goes to top up people's salaries. As someone involved in the charitable sector I am very aware the Christmas period is one when charities dependent on the public for most of the money they receive in the year. As a matter of urgency I would like to see the Minister responsible for the charitable sector come to the House to reassure people there is sufficient regulation to ensure money brought in will go where it needs to go.

I reiterate the call for a debate on homelessness which I made yesterday.