Sir, – Ireland’s 8,400 charities provide a vast range of public services in communities across Ireland. Just over half of the funds spent by these organisations come from the exchequer, with the rest being sourced from the public, companies and philanthropic sources.
All these organisations are run by volunteers who serve as board or committee members. About half of all Irish charities have no paid employees. However, as is the case the world over, when their work requires it, charities employ paid staff to deliver, oversee and manage the effective delivery of their services and effective financial management. Of those charitable organisations which employ paid staff, 37 per cent have five paid staff or fewer; 41 per cent have between six and 50 paid staff; and only a quarter of one percent of them employ over 100 people.
The recent revelations about top-up payments for senior executives and the associated issue of the levels of those salaries, relate to a very small number of voluntary healthcare-providers that are in effect supplying outsourced public services. It cannot be inferred that these practices are common in a sector where the only comprehensive salary survey shows the average remuneration for CEOs and managers in charities is €59,000 a year (with no bonuses or “top- ups”) and that most CEOs earn less than €72,000 a year.
All funds raised by a charity, regardless of the source, pass into the custodianship (not the ownership) of the organisation’s trustees (usually referred to as board or committee members). These funds must therefore be treated the same as any public funds under the control of a public entity, that is with unqualified transparency. For organisations with a charity number, there can never be different standards of transparency for funds. The entire organisation benefits from the charitable status, therefore the highest standards of transparency must apply to the reporting of all income and all expenditures of that organisation.
Charities in receipt of State funding must comply with all the terms of all funding agreements they enter into, including any terms related to remuneration of staff and senior executives.
It would be terrible consequence for the vast majority of very well run charitable organisations if the justifiable shock and anger caused by recent revelations were to affect fundraising, or the reputation of charities in general. These organisations are reliant on public generosity and support, and the issue in the spotlight has nothing to do with the way in which the vast majority of highly effective and efficient charitable organisations is run.
Although we regretfully do not yet have a charity regulator in Ireland, it does not mean the sector is unregulated. There are many different regulators which oversee different aspects of the work of charities. The announcement this year by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter that the charity regulator will be established in 2014 is very welcome as the final piece in the regulatory framework. The charity regulator’s presence will provide by default, the necessary transparency to show and to reassure the public that Ireland’s charities are, in the vast majority of cases, run to the highest possible standards.
Until then, and in light of the current revelations, all charitable organisations should re-double their commitment to transparency by publishing detailed accounts on their websites, or other places accessible to the public.
These accounts should include explanatory notes on how and where the funds were sourced and spent, and what impact the work of their organisation has made. All organisations should also respond promptly to legitimate requests for information on salary levels and sources of funding. – Yours, etc,
DEIRDRE GARVEY,
Chief Executive Officer,
The Wheel,
Fleet Street, Dublin 2.