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Mr Seán Canney TD, Minister of State for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development, today (Thursday) welcomed the publication of a report examining the potential for a ‘Charity Passport’ facility for charity data in Ireland.

The report was prepared for the Charities Regulator by Indecon.

Minister Canney said:

Charities and voluntary and community organisations play a vital role in every community across the country with over 10,300 (10,366) charities on the Regulator’s Register of Charities.”

This valuable report follows on from recommendations of the Report of the Consultative Panel on the Governance of Charitable Organisations, published last year, which called for examination of the potential administration burden for charities of governance requirements, including approaches taken internationally.

A key model examined in the report is the ‘report-once, use often’ central system model as used by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), known as the ‘charity passport’ scheme.

The report acknowledges the differing views as to what such a ‘passport’ would look like, and the potential costs and benefits that would arise.

The Minister continued:

I would like to thank Indecon for their work on this significant report, which has raised a number of important policy matters for consideration and provides plenty of food for thought.

The report notes that legislative amendments may be required to enable the Regulator to operate more effectively. My Department is currently working on the Heads of a Bill to amend the Charities Act, 2009, and we will continue to work with the Regulator to consider and progress such amendments as necessary.

The Indecon report is available on the Charities Regulator website: https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/en/information-for-the-public/our-news/2019/november/indecon-s-report-into-the-potential-for-a-charity-passport-facility-for-charity-data-in-ireland