Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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693. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development further to Question No. 727 of 6 December 2022, if she intends to remedy the failure to fulfil statutory obligation under section 6 of the Charities Act 2009 to review the Act's operations within the timelines provided. [62150/22]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The Charities Regulatory Authority (‘the Charities Regulator’) is the State organisation responsible for registering and regulating all of Ireland’s charities. While established on 16 October 2014, pursuant to the Charities Act 2009, the Charities Regulator was not fully operational until 2016.

Draft proposals for amendments to the Charities Act 2009 were developed by the then responsible Minister in 2017, to be included in the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.

The General Scheme of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which provided for amendments to the Charities Act 2009, was approved by Government on 11 July 2017. Following the publication of this General Scheme, the corporate governance oversight of the Charities Regulator transferred to my Department, also in the same year.

However, the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill did not progress, and it was necessary to progress the required legislative provisions under a standalone Amendment Bill. Following consultation, and also consequential to the operational experience acquired by the Charities Regulator since 2016, a number of additional amendments were incorporated into the General Scheme for the Charities (Amendment) Bill, published in April 2022.