Written answers
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Department of Rural and Community Development
Charitable and Voluntary Organisations
Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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205. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of Pobal's proposed review into its charity status; if the review will be conducted in-house; the timeline for completion of the review; if his Department or the Office of the Attorney General has an input into the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27118/18]
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Pobal is a not for profit company limited by guarantee. Charitable status was granted to the company by the Revenue Commissioners on the 20th November 1996. In accordance with Section 40 of the Charities Act, 2009, Pobal was entered onto the Register of Charitable Organisations automatically on 16 October 2014.
Notwithstanding this, Pobal has informed my Department that it has engaged a firm of Solicitors to conduct an independent review of its charitable status. The work is now underway and it is expected that the review will take 3-4 months.
The board of Pobal will communicate the outcome of the review to my Department through the existing corporate governance and oversight arrangements. The Charities Regulator has been informed of the process.
Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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206. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if his Department has had contact with the Charities Regulator with regard to its review of State agencies that also hold charitable status; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27119/18]
Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Charities Regulator is an independent authority and was established in October 2014 under the Charities Act 2009. The key functions of the Regulator are to establish and maintain a public register of charitable organisations operating in Ireland and ensure their compliance with the Charities Acts. I have no function in this matter.
In line with section 40 of the Charities Act 2009, all organisations which had been granted charitable status by the Revenue Commissioners when the Charities Regulator was established in October 2014 were automatically entered on the Register of Charities. I understand that there are a number such charities on the Register of Charities which currently provide government services and/or which are statutory bodies.
Under its business plan for 2018 the Charities Regulator plans to carry out a number of targeted sector reviews, which may include charities which are statutory bodies.
The Charities Regulator’s 2018 business plan also includes the publication of a sectoral report, based on an analysis of data held on the Charities Register. This report will analyse issues such as the income and expenditure of the sector, overall economic and social impacts, legal structure and governance, and charitable donations. This report is scheduled for publication during the third quarter of 2018.
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