Details of what may appear in a new Charities Regulation Bill, when it is finally published, have been outlined by Minister of State at the Department of Community Affairs, Noel Ahern. The announcement represented yet another example of this Government's failure to deal efficiently and expeditiously with long-standing problems.
The need for statutory control of fundraising activities and the prevention of fraud has the support of all the major charities. And this Government has been promising reform since it took office almost nine years ago. But legislation is still awaited.
Declaring what the Government hopes to do at some future date is no substitute for action. And an offer by Mr Ahern to consult with charities in the coming months, as parliamentary draftsmen prepare the long-awaited legislation, only distracts attention from this reality. At this rate of progress, charities may still be unregulated by the time a general election is called.
Ireland is unique within the EU in that we have no complete register of charities. And there is no legal obligation on organisations not registered as companies to publish their accounts. An estimated 6,000 charities claim tax relief from the State and, each year, receive hundreds of millions of euro in public and private donations. Sixteen years ago, a major report recommended that charities should be obliged by law to submit accounts for public inspection and that they be subjected to regulatory control. But, in spite of controversies concerning fraud and mismanagement in the intervening years and the transfer of responsibility for the sector to a variety of ministers, nothing has been done.
The plans announced by Mr Ahern are welcome insofar as they go. The appointment of a regulator, with powers to investigate and prosecute agencies accused of fraud or mismanagement and to freeze assets, would be a considerable step forward. Reputable charities would welcome statutory requirements to publish details of all fundraising activities and expenditures. So would members of the general public who, in the absence of such information, may not contribute to otherwise worthy causes.
There has been an intolerable delay in dealing with this unacceptable situation. The Government has allowed malpractices to develop within the sector while, at the same time, fearing the emergence of yet another public scandal. It is not fair to those well-run charities that engage in vital humanitarian projects both at home and abroad. Legislation and new regulations should be put in place as a matter of urgency.