Charities Regulator received 681 complaints about charities operating in Ireland last year

More than 40% of complaints focused on governance concerns, where issues were raised about domineering chief executives, a lack of transparency surrounding financial disclosures, and inadequate oversight. File picture

There was a 38% rise in concerns raised about charities operating in Ireland last year, with a total of 681 concerns filed with the Charities Regulator.

More than 40% of complaints focused on governance concerns, where issues were raised about domineering chief executives, a lack of transparency surrounding financial disclosures, and inadequate oversight.

A further 46% of concerns related to unregistered organisations falsely presenting as charities or charities with opaque financial controls.

The regulator said 80 concerns were made related to matters outside of its remit.

Charities Regulator chief executive Madeleine Delaney said the regulator was not “unduly concerned” about the rise in the number of concerns received in 2025. 

She said the rise coincided with an increase in registered charities — 212 charities were registered in 2025.

“What is of concern, however, is the continued pattern of governance-related issues,” Ms Delaney said.

“It suggests that some trustees are not fully in control of their charities or are unsure about how to manage them effectively and make good decisions in the best interests of the organisation.” 

About 11,500 charities are registered across Ireland.

In an Ipsos B&A poll commissioned by the regulator and published in 2025, seven in 10 people (71%) said having trust and confidence in a charity was very important, down from 80% in 2022.

A lack of transparency about the handling of donations was cited as a key reason for declining trust.

Across 2025, four charities were the subject of statutory investigation by the regulator: Scouting Ireland, Fighting Blindness, NCBI, and Burren College of Art.

An inspection into Scouting Ireland highlighted a clear lack of transparency around property holdings across its subsidiaries.

Fighting Blindness was found to have acted out of line in disclosing the €5,599 price tag of a Mediterranean cruise ship and other illegitimate bonus payments made to the charity's fundraising organisers.

Inspections into NCBI and Burren College of Art have yet to be published.

Intermediate sanctions were also placed on Husky Rescue Ireland for inadequate bookkeeping. The charity was temporarily removed from the charities register.

A total of 190 charities were deregistered in 2025, 20 of which were removed for failing to file annual reports. The remainder were deregistered due to a cessation of operations or a change in their operational status.

Almost 750 charities in Ireland received €5m or more in financial income.