• 190 Irish charities gather for national conference to discuss charities regulation, funding, transparency and the regulation of fundraising.
• The conference is being organised by The Wheel, a national network of 1,250 charities. 
• The conference is the largest annual gathering of Irish charities.
  
• Conference themes: 
  • Charities Regulation: The Charities Regulatory Authority is now operational, but are charities rising the challenge of transparency, and is regulation helping to maintain the public’s trust and confidence in our work?
    
  • Commissioning: How will the shift from grant funding to commissioning affect social services? 
  • Should fundraising be regulated? What can we learn from the recent fundraising scandals in the UK that led to formal regulation there? Input from Sir Stuart Etherington – CEO, NCVO (UK), author of the UK government's report on fundraising practices. 

• Representatives from 190 leading Irish charities
• 16 speakers, including:
  • The New CEO of the Charities Regulatory Authority (CRA)
  • Fred McBride - Chief Executive, TUSLA
  • Pat Healy - Director of Social Care, HSE
  • Sr Stanislaus Kennedy - Founder of Focus Ireland
  • Mo Flynn – CEO, Rehab
  • Patricia Quinn - MD of Benefacts.ie
  • Sir Stuart Etherington – CEO, NCVO (UK), author of the official UK government's report on fundrasing practices. 
    
  • Orlaigh Quinn - Assistant Secretary, Department of Public Expenditure & Reform