Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 259: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, in view of the report by the Joint Committee on the Constitution of the Oireachtas published in July 2010, which recognised that legislation that would promote female candidates as a condition of public funding might prove constitutionally frail and recommended that the Attorney General be asked to examine the constitutional implications of such legislation, if he has obtained such advice from the Attorney General regarding proposed legislation on party funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14517/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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On 31 May 2011, I announced that the Government had approved measures to be contained within the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 that is currently being prepared. In line with the Government's commitment to significantly reform political funding in Ireland, this Bill will implement commitments from the Programme for Government and recommendations made in the Moriarty Tribunal Report Into Payments to Politicians and Related Matters. The Government have agreed that the Bill will, inter alia, address the Programme for Government commitment that: "Public funding for political parties will be tied to the level of participation by women as candidates those parties achieve".

The Bill is to include a requirement that to qualify for full State funding under Part III of the Electoral Act 1997 a qualified political party will have to have at least 30% women candidates and at least 30% men candidates at the next General Election. This is to rise to 40% after seven years. Half of every payment to a qualified political party is to be made contingent on meeting these new requirements. I have received the advice of the Attorney General in respect of these intended provisions and I do not envisage constitutional difficulties arising.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 260: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce legislation to regulate the charity sector, which raises more than €500 million a year; if he will consider bringing forward a provision in any statutory code for the sector that all salaries over a certain limit paid for from charity funds should be disclosed publicly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14165/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Charities Act 2009, which was enacted in February 2009, provides for an integrated system of mandatory registration and proportionate regulation and supervision of the charities sector for the first time in Ireland. While the Charities Act 2009 is designed to regulate the charities sector, it is not prescriptive in terms of issues such as remuneration of charity employees, which will continue to be a matter for individual charities, though it should be noted that charity trustees cannot be remunerated for carrying out trustee duties.

Whilst I accept the principle that charity employees should not be excessively remunerated, I believe it is important that employment in the charities sector is regarded as an attractive option for high quality candidates. The issue of the appropriate remuneration for employees in the charities sector, as with other sectors, would depend on the size of the charity, the range and level of duties of the employee in question, and his or her qualifications and experience.

Where the Charities Act will make a difference in the area of interest to the Deputy though is through the financial and activity related information that charities will have to provide to the new Charities Regulatory Authority, and which will in turn be available to the public. Through this approach, the public will be able to see how charities utilise their resources, including donations, and thus make more informed choices as to which charities operate most efficiently and effectively, and on that basis decide on which charities they will, or will not, support. In that regard, I would expect that donors will favour those charities that focus their resources principally on their charitable purposes rather than on administration, though it must be accepted that a charity will have overheads, like any other business.

Though the Charities Act was passed in 2009, it did not come immediately into force. Any sections that it is possible to commence in advance of the establishment of the Authority have been commenced. The remainder will be commenced on establishment of the new Authority. There is a considerable body of work being undertaken before the bulk of the Act can be commenced. In other jurisdictions, such as Scotland, it has taken a number of years after the enactment of the legislation for the new regulatory system for charities to be formally established and this will be the case in Ireland also, though it should be noted that all of my Department's expenditure programmes are currently being examined in the context of the comprehensive Review of Expenditure currently being undertaken across all Government Departments and Agencies.