merrion street

Good morning. I am delighted to be here this morning at the Launch Conference of Charities Institute Ireland and I would like to thank you for the invitation.
The merger of Fundraising Ireland and the Irish Charities Tax Reform Group (ICTR) was a brave, practical and thoughtful decision. It allows two organisations dedicated to improving conditions in the charity sector to work together and combine their resources.
I think that there is a lesson there for charities, particularly for those separately tackling similar issues in Irish society, such as discrimination, hunger, homelessness and suicide. It makes sense for different charitable organisations with a similar focus to speak with one voice on the issues of most concern to them.
The work of Charities Institute Ireland will support the Charities Regulatory Authority in its important work to help improve openness, transparency and good governance in the charity sector in Ireland. The regulation of the charity sector is a cause very close to my heart and an absolute priority for this Government. It will reassure the many thousands of people who generously volunteer their time, energy and money to charitable causes that their efforts serve a noble purpose, which is to assist the most vulnerable citizens in our society.
Fraud, theft and dishonesty in this sector of all sectors must not be tolerated. There can be no excuses for deliberately deceitful or illegal conduct.
The public must have confidence that the money they donate to a charity will be managed and used correctly at all times. Anything less is a betrayal of the goodwill of thousands of people around the country and of the taxpayer. Trust, integrity and ethics are important words. They mean something. The work of charitable organisations contributes so much to the public good. Effective regulation of the sector is, therefore, very important and must be a priority to ensure that the various scandals that have arisen in the sector do not arise in the future.

Having said that, we must of course be careful to strike the right balance between vigilance and generosity. Regulation is certainly necessary but it is important not to discourage concerned individuals from doing the charitable work that they believe needs to be done. Ireland has long enjoyed a proud and noble reputation for providing assistance to those in need, both at home and abroad.
My Department is determined to ensure that the Charities Regulatory Authority has the necessary staff and financial resources required to achieve its goals. I was pleased to announce in the recent budget an extra €1.7 million for the Authority to enable it to hire staff with the necessary specialist skills and to strengthen its vital oversight roles and responsibilities under the Charities Act. 　
Balance is of course also required in the implementation of the decisions of the Charities Regulatory Authority. With that in mind, I recently appointed five members of the newly established and independent Charity Appeals Tribunal.
The role of the Charity Appeals Tribunal, as outlined in the Charities Act, is to hear and adjudicate on appeals against certain decisions of the Charities Regulatory Authority. Where an application for registration of a charity is refused by the Regulator, or a person has been removed from the Register or is no longer deemed by the Regulator to be registered, an appeal may be submitted to the Charity Appeal Tribunal.
We should all be able to trust that charities will manage their funds in a responsible manner, from the fund-raising techniques that they employ to their use of the money they raise for specific or general causes. Unfortunately, that has not always been the case.
I’m quite conscious of the fact that the issue of ‘charities’ has fallen out of the news cycle. For one or two weeks last summer it was all we talked about. And that’s what we became accustomed to; scandals would come and go – and we’d forget about it until the next scandal arose. That cycle must end and I believe that the full implementation of the Charities Act 2009 will end it.
Almost all of the Charities Act of 2009 has already been implemented. My Department is now engaging with the Regulator on an appropriate timeline for the commencement of the few remaining sections, including provisions in relation to charitable fundraising. We now await the outcome of the deliberations of a Consultative Forum on Charitable Fundraising convened by the Regulator last February, at my request, to make recommendations on the implementation of those provisions. Public consultations on proposed Accountancy Regulations and Guidelines on Charitable Fundraising began in October.
There is a clear obligation on all charitable organisations in the land to ensure that they are compliant with the terms of the Charities Act 2009. There is also a responsibility on any individual who sees it, to report any wrongdoing. If any member of the public or organisation has evidence that there are breaches of the law in relation to charities, this information should be forwarded to the relevant authority. In some cases, that may be the Charities Regulator. In others, involving suspected fraud or breaches of company law in relation to charities, it may be An Garda Síochána or the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, respectively.
Good governance in the charity sector, scrutinised by a well-resourced Regulator, is a key mechanism to ensure that charity work is protected. The charity sector needs to operate and promote the importance of working according to the highest of ethical and governance standards.
I might also briefly mention the VAT treatment of charities, which I know is an important issue for many people here today. As you may be aware, my colleague Michael Noonan, mentioned this in his recent budget speech. The Minister said that he would ask his officials to engage once again with the Charities Tax Reform Group – or rather the Charities Institute Ireland - with a view to reviewing the options available in terms of how charities might be compensated.
Goodwill, generosity, the people’s trust and a determination to improve Irish society, and particularly the lives of our most vulnerable citizens, are among this country’s most invaluable, immeasurable and vitally important resources. Charities help feed the hungry, house the homeless and counsel the troubled. We must all work together to promote the importance of standards and good governance in the charity sector if the many worthy causes in that sector are to be properly addressed into the future.