Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With regard to the charities issue, I was out collecting at the weekend for a charity. There is support for genuine charities. The contributions from people were phenomenal. Once they were satisfied as to the identity of the charity they had no difficulty contributing. In fact, it was a very good cause.

In early September, I submitted a question in the health committee on the issue of HSE funding for various organisations, and I received a response on 17 October. What was disappointing in the response was that there was not full disclosure to the health committee, even though the question I tabled was very detailed. The question specifically asked if the HSE was aware of any additional moneys being paid to senior management. I received a generic response. It said there were irregularities, but no details were furnished. That is a case of not answering the questions from Members of this House. It was a detailed question and the HSE had six weeks to respond. It had all the information by 30 September, but it was not given to the health committee. That is disappointing and it is not the way Members of the Oireachtas should be treated by the HSE.

One of the serious issues raised in the question is the fact that €3.27 billion is paid to 2,680 organisations, and 56% of the funding goes to approximately eight of them. In other words, €1.69 billion goes to eight organisations. We can have all the charities regulators we like, but what we do not have on the boards of these organisations are nominees from the Department of Health, the HSE or any government agency. It is time to examine and debate the system of governance of these organisations. We must put in place a structure that entitles the Minister or the HSE to nominate representatives to these boards. A total of €1.69 billion is going to eight organisations, yet there is no government nominee on any of their boards. That is the issue we must debate now. I favour the establishment of a charities regulator, but this is an issue we can deal with immediately.