Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I agree that the Irish Red Cross Society is a very important organisation. It is important to remember that the governance of the society is set out under the terms of the Geneva Convention, the 1938 Act and the 1939 order. One of the principal requirements of the Minister is to ensure the independence of the Irish Red Cross Society. That provision is not necessarily put in place because of the requirements relating to the Red Cross in Ireland but because the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies operate internationally, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, and their neutrality and independence from government is a very important consideration in that context. It would be disastrous for the Government to undermine the independence of the Irish Red Cross Society by intervening in the day-to-day running of the organisation and the Government would not countenance doing so.

Further to the proposals arising from the 2007 review of the international societies, the working group set up here made a number of recommendations, which we have discussed here on previous occasions, including that the chairman of the Irish Red Cross Society should be independently appointed when the new system is in place, that the number of Government nominees should be dramatically reduced and many other recommendations on the internal workings of the organisation.

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