Charities say they can no longer plug gaps in public services following pay controversies

Negative publicity over pay and pensions at charitable organisations earlier this year has “significantly affected” fundraising, which can no longer plug gaps left in public services by budgetary cuts, according to six networks representing more than 1,500 charities.

At a briefing for reporters in Dublin yesterday, the Wheel, Disability Federation of Ireland, Care Alliance Ireland, Irish Rural Link, Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups, and the National Youth Council of Ireland called on the Government to develop a cross-departmental plan to restore and grow funding for public services.

In a joint statement the charities said funding for many community and voluntary organisations has been cut by 8 to 10 per cent in each of the past seven budgets, resulting in “the collapse of the State’s social fabric”.

The charities said it was their “collective judgment” that cumulative cuts to public expenditure have “pushed our public services and social infrastructure to the point that they are no longer sustainable”.

“Without a co-ordinated plan to grow and fund public services we risk doing permanent damage to Ireland’s social fabric. A successful economy depends on a successful society. We can’t have one without the other,” they added.

Fundraising

Ivan Cooper, director of advocacy with the Wheel, a national organisation representing over 1,000 charitable organisations, said 61 per cent of its members have reported that fundraising has been significantly affected by the negative publicity earlier in the year, and that nearly half said fundraising was down by 10 per cent since November 2013.

“We can no longer rely on Ireland’s community and voluntary organisations to fundraise voluntarily to fill the gaps, and it’s time the Government understood this in relation to Budget 2015 and restore and increase funding for public services,” said Mr Cooper.

“The way we do public services in Ireland is that the State effectively outsources large quantities to charities but they only give them about 50 per cent on average of the cost of funding all of that activity.

“The rest of those funds are generated by charities through fundraising activities or through running businesses that generate a surplus that they put back into the organisation to deliver the public services.”

Alliance Ireland executive director Liam O’Sullivan said the groups were “unambiguous” that the Government must resist the clamour to introduce tax breaks in next month’s budget before the restoration of public service budgets.