Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 631: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the steps that he has taken to address the situation where persons or groups are dropping leaflets to houses masquerading as charity organisations seeking donations of clothes and other goods; if his attention has been drawn to the damage this is doing to genuine charities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14498/10]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am very aware of the nuisance that can be caused to householders by door-to-door collectors of clothing and bric-a-brac. I am also conscious that certain collectors of such items convey the impression in their promotional literature that they are charitable in nature, when this may not actually be the case. This may lead some people to donate to such collections in the mistaken belief that they are supporting a charity. I consider that this is unfair both to donors, whose intention in donating such goods is to help those in need and to genuine charities that are reportedly losing out on support as a result. I firmly believe that the public should be empowered to verify the charitable bona fides of such collectors.

At present, there is no public register of charities operating in Ireland, although the Revenue Commissioners publish a list of current "CHY" holders – organisations that have qualified for charitable tax exemptions – on their website, www.revenue.ie, which is publicly accessible. I would recommend that members of the public check this list if they have concerns about the authenticity of any collector.

However, the Charities Act 2009, which was enacted last year, will, when fully commenced, address this situation. The cornerstone of the new statutory regulatory regime for charities will be a Charities Regulatory Authority with extensive regulatory powers, and a publicly accessible Register of Charities upon which any charity operating in Ireland must be registered. It will be an offence for any organisation that is not on the Register of Charities to describe itself or its activities in such a way as to lead the public to assume that the organisation is a registered charity. This will limit the scope for non-charities to suggest that they are charitable in nature. By checking the Register, the public will be in a position to distinguish between charitable and non-charitable collections, and to make better-informed decisions about which collections they choose to support.

The setting up of the Register of Charities is contingent upon the new Authority being in place. My Department is rolling out an implementation plan for the Act at the moment. In other countries, for example, Scotland, it has taken a number of years after enactment of the legislation for the new regulatory system for charities to be fully introduced, and this will be the case in Ireland too.