Results 561-580 of 1,125,818 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Holly Cairns OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Michael McNamara OR speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Dessie Ellis OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Richard O'Donoghue OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Seán Canney OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Pauline Tully OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell OR speaker:James Browne OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Norma Foley)

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

John Brady: We only have to look across the State to see the number of OPW buildings that are vacant and derelict. Has any communication taken place with the OPW in terms of utilising some of its vacant buildings?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

John Brady: It seems like an extraordinary amount of rent when there are so many State owned buildings. In terms of the charities themselves and the pay for CEOs, it has to be said an awful lot of charities operate on a voluntary basis and there is no remuneration whatsoever. For CEOs who are paid, the average is approximately €70,000. There were some reports in the media that said CEOs were...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

John Brady: Are there any charities where that remuneration package is deemed excessive or which Ms Delaney has concerns about?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

John Brady: We absolutely see the need for the regulator and the work it does in ensuring there is regulation and all the standards are adhered to, but in some cases it is construed that there is heavy-handedness in the approach taken. I do a lot of work with organisations that help the homeless, and I am sure others do as well. There was a brilliant organisation in my constituency that was set up by a...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

John Brady: I do not want to get into specific cases or anything like that, but they were certainly not masquerading as some charity. They received small donations, similar to many little groups like that. It was a coming together of community activists and people who wanted to do good. I gave the wrong figure. She was threatened with a fine of €300,000 and-or a prison sentence of up to ten...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

John Brady: She was told this is the process you need to go through. It is a cumbersome and lengthy process that would frighten the life out of anyone trying to register as a charity. The approach was very heavy-handed and wrong and there needs to be a lot more-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

John Brady: -----working with small groups like that which see a need to address a serious crisis, which is homelessness. Unfortunately, it was forced to cease operating like many other similar small groups.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank the witnesses for being here today. I was fortunate enough to head up a charity for almost seven years and I know the value of the work the regulator does in sustaining the public's trust in the charity sector as a whole and allowing charities to continue doing the good work they do. I thank it for that. In May of this year, the regulator issued a statement urging charities to be...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: In her opening statement, Ms Delaney outlined that the office oversees a very diverse landscape of charities, ranging from small volunteer-led charities, sometimes operating in small communities and perhaps only serving the needs of that particular community, to very large entities with budgets of millions of euro. In her most recent response, she mentioned webinars. Does the regulator...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: The provision Ms Delaney refers to has not yet been enacted. Is the regulator proactively seeking that power to oblige charities, particularly those recently established charities, to attend webinars? I would argue these webinars are very much in their interests as regards their governance, the public's trust in them and their credibility. Would the regulator encourage Government or the...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: From Ms Delaney's perspective as CEO, what are the largest challenges facing her organisation right now in late 2024 in doing the work it does? How does she suggest they should be addressed?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: What does that mean?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: To pick up on Ms Delaney's final point, it highlights the importance of the Charities Regulator and its role. When people donate to a charity, they understand that there are administrative costs and staffing costs but they like to think that the money, or a large percentage of it, is doing what it says on the tin. The Charities Regulator is incredibly important in that. We have had a...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: It is the one thing that jumped out from the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. I would like to be able to see that money a little more clearly. I am not making any suggestion that there is anything untoward there, but we have seen at this committee other funds that were maybe less than transparent being used for all sorts of interesting items like flip-flops and so on. I do not...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I thank Ms Drinan. I was involved in the Charities (Amendment) Act, which was passed by the select committee on rural and community development, of which I am a member. Ms Delaney said that some parts of this important Act are not commenced yet. I was going to say "Bill", but it was signed into law on, I think, 10 July. There were earlier questions about staffing and resourcing for the...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Are the ICT system changes likely to be contracted out in the way Ms Delaney was describing earlier?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Very good. I suppose that is more a future-facing question so perhaps it is not really properly a question for this committee. The atomic bomb the regulator can deploy is to have somebody removed from the charities register. Is that a power that is often invoked?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Okay, and there are eight prosecutions initiated out of the 1,700 charities.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: What is the current status of those prosecutions?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Are many more charities being considered? Are there more prosecutions on the way?