Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I rise today to talk about charity regulation in Ireland or the lack thereof. I cannot believe I am coming back to this subject. I wrote a report in 2012, I think, just to give colleagues a quick reminder. Do my colleagues know how much money the Government gives to charities in Ireland each year? It gives in excess of €4 billion. My colleagues should think of all the schools in Ireland and imagine if the students' copybooks were not marked. There is nobody in Ireland who is in charity whose copybook is marked because we do not have a regulator. Are charities compliant with best practice such as codes of governance and fundraising? How efficient are the charities that receive public money? Are they measured or held accountable? The answer is "No".

Does the Government have a database of charities? This is going well. The new regulator is getting there on a database, even though we had one before via Patricia Quinn and INKEx, which we shelved before we started the regulator. We are building a new one.

Does the Government know the combined spend on payroll, overheads or marketing in all the charities in Ireland? No. TheDaily Telegraphcarried a story yesterday about a very high-profile charity called ShelterBox, sponsored by no less than the Duchess of Cornwall. Huge fraud has taken place. The boss of that charity has given his son endless contracts and business. There is absolute murder going on. In the Daily Maillast week we also had the RSPCA, Save the Children, the NSPCC and Oxfam all in before the regulator about aggressive fundraising and going after vulnerable people.

Some €4 billion from all the different silos and parts of our Government is going out. We have no regulation. I do not have to remind colleagues about Rehab and the CRC. There are a few other small ones that have appeared in the paper and, indeed, if colleagues care to buy the Daily Mailthis weekend, there is another scandal approaching. We have no regulator. I ask the Leader if the Minister could come in and talk to us about this.

Yesterday I did not get a chance to speak. The point on defibrillators made by Senator Feargal Quinn is a no-brainer. I know they are telling us we do not have the money, but for goodness' sake. There is VAT on defibrillators. If Senator O'Donnell and myself set up a GAA club out in south Dublin we would have to pay VAT on the defibrillator. That is something small which we could just take off.

Rural Ireland - €30 million - what an absolute joke. We need a debate on rural Ireland. I will have a lot more to say about that.