Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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1248. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has viewed the Charities Regulators Report 2024 into a charity (details supplied); if further payments will be made to the charity in advance of the publication of the report; if the €200,000 advanced to the charity in August 2024 was sanctioned without any knowledge of the details of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10858/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Animal welfare is a key priority for me as Minister and for the Government. The Animal Welfare Grants Programme provides considerable support for animal welfare charities to assist them in their vital work in rescuing and rehoming animals. In November 2024, funding of almost €6 million was provided to 101 animal welfare charities nationwide including an award of €931,750 to the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA).

Grants are paid under the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (DPENDR) Circular 13 of 2014. Charities with an income of over €100,000 must submit audited accounts and these accounts must be signed and dated by the auditor. All applicants including the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) must adhere to the terms and conditions of the Animal Welfare Grants application process.

The applications process is robust and comprehensive. Applicants provide information on their activities, including reporting specific data and metrics requested as part of the process. Details in relation to the applicants performance in the care, welfare and rehoming of animals for the previous year are required and taken into account as part of the assessment. As with all applicants, the organisation in question was also subject to veterinary inspections, which are carried out in the context of the grants application process. These awards align with government policy and the goals set out in my Animal Welfare Strategy 2021-2025, Working Together for Animal Welfare, which was published in 2021.

I understand that the investigation in question, carried out by the Charities Regulator, concluded in September 2024, but that it has not been published to date. The Charities Regulator issued a public notice in September last year stating that it was satisfied that the Charity has taken steps to address the specific matters that led to the investigation and that the Investigators' report would not be published at this time to avoid any potential impact on separate court proceedings that are currently in progress.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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1249. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the purpose of the advanced grant of €200,000 to a charity (details supplied) in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10859/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Animal welfare is a key priority for me as Minister and for the Government. The Animal Welfare Grants Programme has provided considerable support for animal welfare charities, with €6 million awarded to 101 animal welfare charities nationwide, in 2024.

Animal Welfare Grants are paid under the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (DPENDR) Circular 13 of 2014. Charities with an income of over €100,000 must submit audited accounts and these accounts must be signed and dated by the auditor. All applicants including the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) must adhere to the terms and conditions of the Animal Welfare Grants Programme and must provide a Certificate of Assurance certifying that the public money granted was used in accordance with the terms and conditions of the grant funding. The ISPCA payment issued in two tranches, an initial payment of €200,000 in August 2024 and the balance in November 2024. The initial payment was made to assist the organisation while they were awaiting release of a bequest.