Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I strongly concur with the comments made by Senator Reilly.

Today, I would like to refer to Irish charities. I believe that more of them are not publishing financial information on their sources of revenue and how they spend them. The majority of charities do vital work on behalf of the Government and the general public. Increasingly, some charities avail of an exemption that permits them to file an abridged version of accounts with the Companies Registration Office. Abridged accounts show no information on income or expenditure.

The charitable organisations cover a wide spectrum and receive a substantial amount of funding from the Government and the general public. This matter is of great concern and it is a question of public interest. We have had problems with the charity sector in the past. Moneys have been stolen, wrongly spent and inadequately managed, to put it mildly. The Government gives almost €6 billion to about 3,000 Irish non-profit organisations in this country. That amount of money does not include public donations. I do not know how much money is donated by the public because we cannot get much information from the regulatory office. In terms of auditing, the law states that charities do not have to supply information. The charities that avail of the exemption should consider their wider responsibilities to stakeholders.

I ask the Government to revisit this matter and strengthen the legislation on regulation. As one person has put it, how can charities ask us to trust them more when they tell us less?