Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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120. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the impact the Charities Regulatory Authority will have on the charity sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48593/14]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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121. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when the Charities Regulatory Authority's website (details supplied) will be live; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48594/14]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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122. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of registration and annual filing fees the Charities Regulatory Authority will cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48595/14]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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123. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when the public register of all charities operating in the State will be complete; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48596/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 to 123, inclusive, together.

The aim of the Charities Regulatory Authority, established under the Charities Act 2009, is to provide for the better regulation of charitable organisations through a framework of registration, regulation and support. The initial focus of the newly established Authority is on the development of a Register of Charities, upon which all charities operating in this country will be obliged to register. Part 4 of the Charities Act, which provides for the investigatory functions of the Authority, has not yet been commenced. The Register, when it is more advanced, will in time be the foundation which underpins the investigative and other regulatory work of the Authority. I can confirm that the website of the Charities Regulatory Authority, www.charitiesregulatoryauthority.ie, went live on 16 October 2014, the date of the establishment of the Authority.

The development of the Register of Charities is the initial task of the Authority. To date, it has written to some 4,500 charities with charitable tax exemptions seeking the extensive information on their finances and structure required to underpin the regulation of the sector. It is envisaged that all 8,500 charities that had charitable tax exemptions on the day of the establishment of the Authority will be contacted in this way by early in the New Year. The Register is also open to applications for charitable status from those charities that are not in receipt of charitable tax exemptions.

It is not possible to give a definite timeframe for completion of the Register at this early stage in the life of the Authority, as the work involved in its development is, to a large extent, dependent on the charities themselves. I am assured, however, that the Authority will continue to pursue this goal with all possible speed. My Department conducted a wide ranging consultation with the charities sector and other stakeholders on the matter of fees and other issues in 2013. It is intended that in time, all charities will be charged fees; these fees will vary depending on the income of the charity. It is envisaged that an announcement on the appropriate levels of fees for registration and annual reporting, which will go towards assisting with the cost of regulation, will be made in the coming months.