Alan Shatter T.D. Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence today
published a consultation paper on his plans for bringing the Charities Act
2009 into force. The aim of the Charities Act is to support public trust
and confidence in charities by introducing statutory regulation of
charities, fostering good practice, and increasing transparency and
accountability.
The Minister said: “Charities play a vital role in our society and economy.
We want to support them in this by putting in place a system of regulation
that is proportionate, responsive, and sensitive to the needs and concerns
of both charities themselves and the donor public.
We have delayed bringing this legislation into force as we considered how
best to achieve the objectives of the Act in a context of Government
spending reductions. While this is clearly going to be challenging, it
remains my view that there is both a need and widespread support for
effective and affordable regulation of the charities sector. The Charities
Act 2009 provides the framework for this. Working within this framework
with flexibility and creativity, I am confident that we can support public
trust and confidence in the charities sector, as well as assisting
charities to achieve and maintain high standards of governance and
accountability. Charities are the recipients of significant investment –
from the donor public, from their volunteers and workers, and from the
taxpayer through Government grants and contracts for services. It is in all
our interests that this investment is safeguarded, managed effectively, and
ultimately benefits the charitable purpose it is intended for. The
statutory regulation of charities will support this.
So that we can achieve this goal in the current budgetary circumstances, I
am proposing that charities will be asked to pay a modest and proportionate
annual fee to contribute to the costs of maintaining the statutory Register
of Charities which is one of the key provisions of the Charities Act. Some
initial suggestions on how this might be implemented are contained in the
consultation paper.
I encourage anyone with an interest in the charities sector to participate
in this consultation and look forward in particular to the engagement of
the charities sector, the donor public and other interested stakeholders.”
The consultation paper includes proposals and consultation questions on the
establishment of a Charities Regulatory Authority and a statutory Register
of Charities. It also includes proposals and consultation questions on the
types of financial and activity reports that registered charities will be
required to provide to the Charities Regulatory Authority once it is
established.
To read the consultation paper and to submit a response, go to
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/CharitiesConsult?OpenForm. The deadline for
responses is 20 March 2013. During the consultation period, the Department
of Justice and Equality plans to convene a stakeholder meeting on the
proposals. Further information on arrangements for this meeting will be
available in the coming weeks. It is envisaged that the responses to the
consultation will be published in due course.