Record number of issues go before Charities Regulator
Nearly a third of last year’s record number of concerns about charities were raised by clients, or serving and former workers and directors, according to the sectoral watchdog.
The Charities Regulator said the 531 concerns raised with it in 2017 were two-thirds more than the figure of 318 the previous year. They encompassed 351 organisations, up nearly 60% from 222 the previous year.
Most issues being brought to the attention of the regulator since its establishment in October 2014 to the end of last year concerned financial control and transparency (29%) or governance (23%).
For 2017, the regulator said it received 246 ‘concern’ forms, of which 141, or 57%, were submitted by people who did not have a direct relationship with the organisation.
However, 29, or one in eight, came from beneficiaries including service users. The regulator received another 27, or 11%, of concern forms from current or past employees and volunteers with the bodies involved.
A further 16 concerns were raised by people who were, or had previously been, directors or trustees of the organisations.
The issues raised vary widely, but after financial control and transparency, the 357 concerns about the legitimacy of a charity represented nearly one in four of all 1,077 cases raised about over 560 organisations from 2014 to 2017.
The Charities Regulator highlighted that just over half of all concerns last year related to organisations which were not registered charities, including charitable organisations that were not registered, as required legally, but also organisations that were said to be misrepresenting themselves as charities.
The watchdog issued public notices last year about house-to-house collections and its work relating to outlets describing themselves as charity shops but which were not part of registered Irish charities.
Other issues being raised since the regulator was set up included 137 issues (9% of the total) about inappropriate political campaigning and 70 concerns (5%) about private benefit from charitable organisations.
There were more than 60 issues relating to harm to intended beneficiaries of a charity, while more than 100 were deemed to be outside the remit of the regulator.
Its chief executive John Farrelly said the assistance of the public is greatly appreciated.
The regulator will continue to target those who are not registered, and those who are in breach of their obligations under the Charities Act,” he said.
Inspectors were appointed to two charities last year to carry out statutory investigations while the regulator published the report of inspectors into Ataxia Ireland CLG in July 2017. The organisation has subsequently ceased operation and a new charity, Ataxia Foundation Ireland, is being run by and for people with ataxias, disorders affecting the central nervous system.
