Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the Minister and thank him for coming to the House in a week when the schedule of the House has been curtailed to one and a half days. It is an absolute disgrace. There are many subjects that Members would like to debate and on which they have called for debates, such as flooding, which occurred again at the weekend, and other issues. It is important that we say as much. The House is available for work and we should be allowed to do our work.

Having said that, I thank the Minister for coming to the House because he has shown a great interest in this issue. We had a debate on it, which was led by the Labour Party group and, in particular, my colleague, Senator John Whelan, in September 2012. At the time we pointed out and predicted many of the things that have since come to pass. At the time, Senator Whelan said that by not setting up the regulator we would be penny wise and pound foolish, and so it has turned out.

A total of €3.5 billion per year is provided by the State to charities and the overall budget of charities is €6 billion per annum. Yet we see the disgraceful situation whereby the chief executive of Rehab and her staff have refused to tell the Irish taxpayer what they are getting paid and have refused to tell us, the investigations led by the Minister aside, where moneys are being expended and spent. We also have the disgrace involving the Central Remedial Clinic. Again, that has raised a cloud and genuine contributors to the organisation have been confused by the refusal to reveal where money is going. What we have is a gravy train in some of the charitable organisations, but not all. There are sweetheart deals for people who have set themselves up not as people to support charities or the needs of people who are involved in various organisations, but as leaders of hierarchies to feather their own nests. They are on ridiculous and scandalous salaries. There get bonuses and expenses and they are organising their own redundancy and retirement packages.

It should not go unsaid, however, that there are some fantastic charities in the country. Everyone in the House is involved in charities in one way or another. We have all been reared to do so and we take great pride as Irish people in the work we do. One need only have seen the report on the television news last night about the people of Limerick for confirmation of this. They flocked into the local community centre to help their neighbours and to provide food for people who had no kitchens or facilities.

It must be said as well that there is currently no clarity or transparency in the system that purports to represent charities and charitable organisations in the country. Therefore, I welcome what the Minister is doing in this legislation, that is, bringing forward a regulator and doing so in the coming months.

I have a question for the Minister on the number of directors that will be appointed. Can the Minister give us some detail and comment on how these directors will be appointed and what qualifications they will require? Before anyone is appointed, we need to be clear that these people are equipped for the job and that their bona fides stand up in respect of what they will be doing and how they will marshal and patrol this sector of society. Too many people in the country are in the golden circle and too many people are appointed for the wrong reasons. As I have already stated, this is a €6 billion enterprise in this country. A total of €6 billion per annum is expended and we must ensure that when the charity regulator and the associated directors are put in place, they are doing the right job for the right reasons.

I have another question for the Minister on the registration fee. I believe it is envisaged that all charities will have to register. Will the Minister give some clarity in respect of how the fee will be arrived at? Will the ratio be based on the expenditure of the organisation? Will the Minister consider bringing that in halfway through this year rather than waiting until next year? There are 8,500 charities in the country. Most of them receive money from public funding and from donations from people. It is imperative that when the Minister puts in place the regulator all charities are required to be transparent and that clarity in what they are doing is uppermost.

Many members have mentioned how this will be done and I will not repeat it but at the end of the day, when a person hands money into a charity, he or she needs to know how it will be spent. In simple terms, that is what we need to see from this process.

Again, I thank the Minister for coming to the House.