Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I suggest that the discussion on the revelations regarding this country's charity sector will have a cleansing effect on charities in the long term. The public has directed its antennae towards charities to a much greater extent. When people donate money, they will ask questions. That will lead to a positive situation for charities that do things properly, have proper corporate governance and ensure most of the moneys donated to them are directed to front-line service users.

I commend the charities in this country that have signed up to the voluntary code of conduct initiated as part of the Charities Act deliberations. If changes need to be made to the Charities Act to ensure proper governance and compliance, that legislation should emanate from this House.

I also welcome the decision by the Minister for Justice and Equality to look for expressions of interest to set up a board to operate the charities regulator. It is a proper and positive step forward. That regulator should be funded entirely by the charities sector because that is what the public would want and because it will ensure in the long term that the money spent by the taxpayer and the contributions made by ordinary citizens to charities are properly channelled and accounted for. I have said before that every euro given to charities, be it through the taxpayer or through people putting a euro into a bucket, is coming from the same people. It is coming from Citizen Ireland and the same accountability should apply to donations as to taxpayers' money.