Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 435: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the reporting obligations in terms of annual accounts and assets of religious orders under the Charities Act 2009; if these returns are to be made publicly available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22739/09]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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The Charities Act 2009, which was signed into law on 28 February 2009, demonstrates the Government's commitment to deliver reform of the law relating to charities to ensure accountability and protect against abuse of charitable status and fraud. The Act is intended to boost public confidence in the sector through increased transparency and proportionate regulation. It will provide a legislative framework for better administration of charitable organisations.

On commencement, section 47 of the Act provides that every registered charity will be required to keep proper books of accounts. Furthermore, section 48 provides that registered charities, apart from those explicitly exempted in the Act, will be required to provide an "annual statement of accounts" to a new Charities Regulatory Authority. The detail as to what should be contained in the annual statement of accounts is to be prescribed in regulations made by the Minister. Incorporated charities will continue to be subject to the relevant accounts and audit requirements under company law. To avoid imposing a dual filing obligation on such entities, the Companies Registration Office will forward such accounts to the new authority.

Under section 50, any charity that is required to provide an annual statement of accounts to the new authority will, if its annual income or expenditure is below a threshold to be prescribed by the Minister, up to a maximum of €500,000, be required to have its accounts examined by an independent person. If the annual income or expenditure of a charity is above the prescribed threshold, it will be required to provide audited accounts to the new authority. There is also a reserve power in section 53(4) for the authority to require a charity whose income or expenditure is below the threshold to have its accounts audited.

In addition, section 52 of the Act provides that all registered charities will be required to provide an "annual report" on their charitable activities to the new authority and attach the annual statement of accounts thereto, where applicable. Section 54 provides that both the annual report and any documents attached thereto will be made available for public inspection. Section 39 further provides that the authority shall also cause to be established and maintained a "register of charities" that shall be available to the public, including on the Internet. The register will contain a broad range of information, both financial and otherwise, on any charity that raises funds from the public.

The present position is that the Charities Act 2009, which is a substantial piece of legislation, has not yet been commenced. There is a considerable body of work to be undertaken in preparation for statutory regulation and my Department is currently finalising an implementation plan in that regard. This plan will ensure that the essential elements are in place to enable the introduction at the appropriate time of the statutory regulatory framework provided for in the Act. In other countries, it has taken a number of years after enactment of the legislation for the new regulatory system for charities to be fully introduced. This is likely to be the case in Ireland too. I should inform the Deputy that I have initiated an examination of the feasibility of commencing some individual provisions in the Act at an early date, subject to legal advice.