Charity regulations

Who would have believed that there are 7,800 charities in Ireland?

And yet, even more mind-boggling is the fact that this proliferation of money-raising groups is not subject to regulation.

Not surprisingly, the failure to monitor an industry generating €6bn a year in taxpayers’ funds has sparked another row between the coalition partners. Adding to existing tensions, Labour senators are moving to apply pressure to Fine Gael Justice Minister Alan Shatter to do something about it. For whatever reason, successive governments have failed to grasp this nettle.

That charities perform excellent work is not in dispute. But in a sector which receives hundreds of millions of euro from the public and the State there must be full transparency and accountability.

Human nature being what it is, the risk that charities could be open to abuse and exploitation should not be ignored.