Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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168. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which his Department monitors the registration of charities with a view to ensuring that all charities are registered and operated according to regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19296/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Charities Regulatory Authority was established in October 2014 pursuant to the Charities Act 2009. The Authority is the State organisation responsible for registering and regulating all of Ireland’s charities. Its role is to provide effective and robust regulation in accordance with the 2009 Act.

My Department has been assigned overall policy responsibility for the Charities Regulator. However, the Authority is fully independent in the performance of its statutory functions. Neither I nor my Department have any role in the decision making process of Authority.

My Department receives regular updates from the Charities Regulator on key performance indicators, under the terms of an oversight agreement.

I understand that, as of 31 March 2018, there were 9,623 charities on the Register of Charities. These were being governed by 55,518 charity trustees. If anyone has concerns that a charitable organisation is in breach of the Charities Act 2009, they may forward details of their concerns directly to the Charities Regulator. I am advised that all concerns received are actively reviewed and processed by the Regulator’s compliance staff. At the end of March, the Charities Regulator had 324 open concerns regarding 184 charities.

In the past year the Charities Regulator has published five guidance documents to assist charity trustees manage and control their organisations. The report of the Consultative Panel on the Governance of Charitable Organisations is due to be published on 10 May, following which I understand that the Charities Regulator plans to publish the first code of governance for charities by the end of the year. This document will provide key guidance for charity trustees in the management and control of their organisations.