Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1158. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of complaints received by the Charities Regulatory Authority about an exhibition (details supplied). [24395/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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While the Charities Regulatory Authority (the ‘Charities Regulator’) operates under the aegis of the Department of Rural and Community Development, Section 14(3) of the Charities Act 2009, provides that the Charities Regulator is independent in the performance of its statutory functions.

My Department has no function in the investigation of potential breaches of the Charities Act, and therefore, it does not hold or record data on complaints or correspondence with organisations regarding potential breaches. In addition, it should be noted that my Department has no function in reviewing the procedures the Charities Regulator has in place for investigating potential breaches of the Act.

I am informed that the Charities Regulator does not publish information about concerns received in relation to individual charities as to do so could unnecessarily undermine confidence in the charities concerned and furthermore could undermine the Regulator's function to increase public trust and confidence in charities. However, I understand the Regulator intends to publish detailed aggregated information as part of a compliance report in the coming weeks.

Details of the Charity Regulator's complaints and concerns policies (for members of the public who are concerned that an organisation may be operating in breach of the Charities Act 2009) are published on its website www.charitiesregulatoryauthority.ie.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1159. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the details of the appointment process of the 13 members of the Charities Regulatory Authority; when they were appointed; and when their position is due for renewal. [24398/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The appointment process for members of the Board of the Charities Regulatory Authority (CRA) is set out in the Charities Act, 2009. Schedule 1, section 2(1) of the Act states that the Authority shall consist of not less than nine and not greater than twenty members. At present, there are 13 appointed members on the Board. In accordance with Section 2(2) of schedule 1, all of the current Board members of the CRA have been appointed by the Minister, with the approval of the Government.

Appointments to the Board are made in line with the Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards which require that appointments are advertised openly on the State Boards portal www.stateboards.ieoperated by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). Applications are processed by way of a transparent assessment system designed and implemented by PAS to support the Minister in making the appointments. Section 2(5) of Schedule 1 to the Charities Act requires the Minister to ensure that among the members of the Authority are persons who have knowledge of and expertise in relation to:

(a) the law relating to charities,

(b) the keeping of accounts by, and funding of, charitable organisations, and

(c) the management of charitable organisations.

Under Section 2(6) of Schedule 1 of the Charities Act 2009, appointments to the Authority are made for a period not exceeding five years. Sections 2(7) and 2(8) of the Schedule provide that a member of the Authority shall be eligible for re-appointment subject to the condition that they shall not hold office for periods the aggregate of which exceeds ten years.

The table below shows the composition of the current Board, including appointment dates.