Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. As other Senators have said, we are all concerned about recent disclosures regarding charitable organisations, with one in particular having captured the headlines and having undermined confidence in a serious way. We all share a concern about the impact these revelations are having on charities. We saw in the run-up to Christmas that donations were markedly down, by 40% as Senator Mary Ann O'Brien said, and I would say they are down by at least that, even though some charities have not had anything to do with the recent disclosures.

We need an increased level of transparency and accountability in the charities sector. The Charities Act 2009 provides for a system of regulation for charities and at the heart of this Act is the creation and support of strong trust and confidence in our charities. This is needed now more than ever. Charities welcome the establishment of a regulator as much if not more than everyone else in society. The phased introduction of the Charities Act is necessary, as is another measure, which I have discussed in passing with the Minister on a few occasions, namely, the need to consider the establishment of a charity quality assurance mark above and beyond that. That would operate as a guarantee that a charity adheres to a high standard of transparency and accountability while spending a low amount, say, less than 20%, on administration. Such a simple mark would encourage those who do not have time to research their charities thoroughly to give with the agreed assurance that the charities adhere to the necessary principles of transparency and accountability and that they would be able to gather that information at a glance. I am thinking in terms of a type of Guaranteed Irish logo for the charity sector, which would immediately indicate to the public that the charity is adhering to the proper regulation, for want of a better word. A person would be assured with one glance at the logo. It is natural that it would have to include the full disclosure of salaries of senior staff, to which Senator O'Brien referred. The idea that the chief executive officer of a charitable organisation can get away with not disclosing his or her salary while calling on others to do so is the height of hypocrisy and is exactly the type of thing that undermines the confidence and faith the people place in charities when donating.

The Charities Act provides for a new regulator to be established for the charities sector and the Minister has indicated he will put an interim regulator in place very soon. The charities regulatory authority is to be an independent State agency charged with the registration and regulation of all charities operating in Ireland. The establishment of this body is essential to the full roll-out of the Charities Act and I am glad to see that going ahead. While I understand the establishment of the regulator as envisaged in 2009 had to be curtailed due to economic necessity, I am on record as having called for its establishment in 2011.

I suppose we all wish that could have been done at the time. The Minister's commitment to this now is commendable certainly in the context of recent developments.

The Charities Act is important legislation as for the first time it defines "charitable purpose" in law. It provides for comprehensive statutory regulation of charities and establishes the legal basis for a significant increase in the information about charities and their affairs to be made available to the public. For reasons of cost it was no longer possible to implement the Act as originally envisaged and yet we have never proposed the repeal of the legislation, such is its importance. Such a move would not represent an advance in the regulation of the charities sector. Instead the Minister has put great effort into finding the best way to bring key measures of the Act into force in a way that does not involve unsustainable expenditure on the part of the State and yet is capable of delivering a demonstrable improvement in the regulation of the sector. In this sense I believe this solution is very workable and practical.

In recent weeks we have heard a series of disturbing allegations about the use of charitable donations by different organisations. The details of these have been the subject of considerable examination in both this House and the media, and have caused concern among the public, making our work all the more urgent. It is vital to restore confidence in our charities sector. Future donations depend on it and the future of the sector depends on it. Therefore the vast majority of charities welcome it. Historically Ireland has been one of the most charitable nations in the world and we punch well above our weight in this regard. I would hate that to change as a consequence of recent revelations. The new system of charities regulation provided for in the Charities Act will be very important in remedying this. I commend the Minister on his work.