Dublin, 10 November 2011- The Wheel, a national body that represents over 870 charities, today expressed its disappointment at the Government’s announcement that plans for the establishment of a Charity Regulator have been placed on hold.

Addressing a conference in Dublin earlier today, Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence said: “Realistically, I simply cannot see that we are in a position to fully implement the Charities Act on a statutory basis at the moment. Just by way of comparison, the Scottish Charities Regulator, which is perhaps the closest comparator to this jurisdiction, has almost 50 staff to fulfil its statutory functions… In our current circumstances, there is no real likelihood of us matching the Scottish model.”

Reacting to the announcement, Ivan Cooper, The Wheel’s Director of Advocacy said: “This is an unfortunate development, the purpose of the Charities Act is to enhance public confidence in the Irish charities sector by increasing the transparency of Irish charities through a proportionate regulatory framework. The Charity Regulator is a key component of this framework.”

Mr Cooper added that The Wheel will be working with its partners in the community and voluntary sector to determine how some of the benefits that the Regulator would have provided, can be achieved through other measures.

“The Wheel and a working-group of 10 other organisations are currently in the process of finalising the first Governance Code for the community, voluntary and charity sector. Initiatives like these should help to build confidence in charities in the absence of a Charity Regulator,” said Mr Cooper.

ENDS

Note to Editors

Ivan Cooper, Director of Advocacy at The Wheel is available for interview. Please contact him on Tel: 086 809 3083 or Gert Ackermann on Tel: 086 176 9287.

The full text of Minister Shatter’s speech is available at: http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/SP11000216

About The Wheel

The Wheel is the national representative and support body for community, voluntary and charity organisations. It represents the interests of its over 870 member organisations, as well as those of the wider community and voluntary sector. It supports non-profit organisations by providing information, training and support services. For more information visit www.wheel.ie.