Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second the views of the Members who have mentioned the use of the AV room. I cannot tell the House how strongly I feel about this issue. We have been through the referendum on the Seanad. One of the points made over and again was that we all want inclusiveness for our citizens. That is why we are here. What are we doing? We are going backwards, making our own little laws in here in our bubble to keep the citizens out. I have a very important Private Members' motion coming up in December. It seems useless that I cannot invite in my groups to brief all the Members because we have only eight or ten minutes in which to make our case.

It is so important that the important groups and citizens we represent serve as touchstones.

Yesterday or the day before at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts, it was noted that a certain charity in the north of Dublin had a fund-raising arm with in excess of €14 million sitting its bank account although it was out fund-raising and saying it needed this, that and the other. This is associated with the storm over top-ups. Members all know about my great interest in the regulation of charities. In my deep research, I noted that some of the bigger charities had in excess of €300 million or €400 million on deposit. I would like the Acting Leader to have a word with Minister for Justice and Equality to talk to us about this. The media are creating a storm about the top-ups at present but we need transparency regarding all charities, be they foreign aid charities, smaller charities or bigger ones. The public has a right to know if the charities are holding large sums on deposit. It should be transparent.