Results 641-660 of 1,142,023 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Cian O'Callaghan OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Joe Flaherty OR speaker:Carol Nolan OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Claire Kerrane OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Louise O'Reilly OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Simon Harris OR speaker:Johnny Mythen OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Seán Fleming OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae OR speaker:Verona Murphy OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Martin Kenny) in 'Committee meetings'

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: 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: 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)

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

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

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: This is an unusual question for the committee but is the regulator under-resourced in that area? I am surprised the regulator has only one dedicated staff member working on this.