Press release
Minister Kyne welcomes publication of Charities Regulator Annual Report
From Department of Rural and Community Development
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Rural and Community Development
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, Seán Kyne TD, has said the Charities Regulatory Authority is helping to increase public trust and confidence in charitable organisations.
Minister Kyne was speaking as the Charities Regulatory Authority’s annual report for 2017 which was presented to the Minister and the Houses of the Oireachtas in accordance with the Charities Act of 2009.
Minister Kyne said:
“Charities and voluntary and community organisations play a very important role in every community across the county with over 9,000 (9,061) charities on the authority’s Register of Charities.
“One of the chief aims of the Charities Act is to promote public confidence and trust in the charities’ sector and the Annual Report demonstrates that the authority is achieving this aim.
“For example, the authority manages a public register of charities which saw an additional 1,757 organisations added in 2017 and the removal of 699 organisations. The maintenance of the public register increases transparency, accountability and ultimately confidence in the sector.
“In terms of concerns raised by members of the public the Charities Regulator received 531 concerns in 2017 and closed 461 of these by the end of the year.
“While the number of concerns reported increased by 66% in 2017, when compared with 2016, the Charities Regulator, which operates under the aegis of the Department of Rural and Community Development, successfully addressed the vast majority of cases.
“I am also pleased to note the work of the Charities Regulator in terms of assisting the staff and trustees of charities to meet duties and obligations relating to the sound management of charitable organisations.
“Last year, the regulator published three guidance documents on the areas of trusteeships, internal financial controls, and fundraising, and I was delighted to launch the regulator’s new e-learning tool for charity trustees last autumn.”