Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join others in congratulating the Cathaoirleach. I agree with Senator Burke that there is a big problem with driver theory tests. It is not just the sons of farmers and agricultural contractors but also the daughters who have concerns about the delays.

I have been fortunate in recent weeks to take part in a big fundraiser and awareness-raising campaign in County Wexford around motor neurone disease organised by Vanessa Davey, Rory Cassidy and others. There are other such initiatives, including by Malcolm McGrath, who has cycled 1,000 km. They are doing it to raise awareness of a most debilitating and horrible disease. The work is being carried out quite often by the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, IMNDA. We need to recognise this disease to a far greater extent and have greater support and investment in research to tackle it.

The IMNDA is a well-run charity. Unfortunately, that cannot be said for every charity. I draw the House's attention to the report of the Charities Regulator around ChildFund Ireland. It is another charity which has abused public trust. It received over €8 million in taxpayers' money over the last decade through Irish Aid. Even though in 2017 a warning was given that 64% of the annual grant was being spent on salaries and administration costs, ChildFund Ireland continued its activity. This comes in the wake of Bóthar and the bags of cash we saw recently. The problem is that, where a minority of charities behave in this way, it brings the whole charity sector into disrepute.

The Charities Regulator has spoken out on this. We really need to clamp down on the abuse of fund-raised money and taxpayers' money by a small minority of charities. Some of the stuff that appears in this report is outrageous. There are examples of the chief executive staying in five-star hotels in Dubai for three days. That does not give the public confidence in those charities. It does not give the taxpayer confidence in the money that is made available to them and damages the reputation of charities. We need to strengthen legislation to deal with those who abuse public trust.