Results 581-600 of 1,091,184 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Declan Breathnach OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Réada Cronin OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Patrick Costello OR speaker:Mick Barry OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Peter Burke OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Thomas Byrne0 OR speaker:Bernard Durkan OR speaker:Thomas Byrne2 OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh OR speaker:Colm Brophy OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Brendan Griffin OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh07 OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Anne Rabbitte OR speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Louise O'Reilly OR speaker:Brendan Smith) in 'Committee meetings'

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

Verona Murphy: Yes.

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

Verona Murphy: The figure stood at €2,457,050 in 2022 and increased to €2,683,616 in 2023, with the same levels of staffing.

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

Verona Murphy: Were those increases agreed as part of the public pay talks?

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

Verona Murphy: That explains that. I often receive calls from constituents who are trying to register charities and they find it a pretty arduous process. I am not saying that is the Charities Regulator's fault. For people who want to do good, there is a rigorous process in place. It can be daunting for someone who is not a solicitor or an accountant. What is the average time it takes to register a...

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

Verona Murphy: Is that the time it should take or what it is actually taking?

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

Verona Murphy: The Charities Regulator has 44 staff and there are 11,016 charities. That means that if all staff took their fair share, although I assume not all staff deal with inspections, each employee would have to do 267 inspections. I take it the Charities Regulator is not doing random sampling inspections.

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

Verona Murphy: Does Ms Delaney consider that a problem? I mean that not as an accusation but from the public perspective. Is it the case that any inspections the Charities Regulator does are brought on the basis of a complaint notified to it?

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

Verona Murphy: Does the Charities Regulator have any idea what the monetary value is of the 11,016 registered charities? Does it have a ballpark figure? They have to register their accounts with the Charities Regulator.

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

Verona Murphy: I am looking at the Charities Regulator’s budget. We are here to assess value for money. From what I have seen from the figures of the Peter McVerry Trust, it has an asset value of approximately €70 million, although I may be corrected on that.

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

Verona Murphy: Is that after disposals?

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

Verona Murphy: That is its income, but what is its asset value?

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

Verona Murphy: It has charitable status. Does it pay tax?

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

Verona Murphy: The whole issue with debt warehousing and such ran into €8 million. That is just one charity. Ms Delaney told us the Charities Regulator's resourcing from the Government is €5 million per year. Ms Delaney probably has an opinion that she may or may not be able to share but if that is just one charity, the Charities Regulator is very under-resourced from a confidence and...

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

Verona Murphy: How much of that was to go towards salaries?

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

Verona Murphy: It was only for salaries.

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

Verona Murphy: Is it fair to say that the Government gave €30 million odd to bail out the Peter McVerry Trust? I ask the Comptroller and Auditor General's office if that is where we ended up.

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

Verona Murphy: I will finish with this but, leaving it at €15 million, it is counterproductive not to resource the regulator when we are providing money and where we can see it is not being spent accordingly. I take it the regulator's investigation into the Peter McVerry Trust is not yet complete.

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

Verona Murphy: We look forward to having the regulator back on that basis. I thank Ms Delaney.

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

James O'Connor: I welcome all the witnesses. The Peter McVerry Trust is in the headlines for the wrong reasons, which has prompted a lot of questions that need to be answered around what merits the Charities Regulator getting involved to undertake investigative work. Under Part IV of the Charities Act 2009, the Charities Regulator has the power to appoint investigators to investigate the affairs of any...

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

James O'Connor: In how many instances has that happened? As the Peter McVerry Trust grew between 2011 and 2022, I understand that it took over nine separate charities. The trust’s remit is supposed to be housing and homelessness, but the purpose of one of those charities was the advancement of religion, which is not one of the trust’s charitable purposes. The trust is in receipt of...