The body that regulates charities in Ireland has said that its funding for this year from the Government is insufficient to meet its needs.
The Charities Regulator also suggested that budgetary constraints would impact on its work this year.
Its concerns are set out in the minutes of the meeting of the board of the Charities Regulator in February which it has published.
The minutes state that board members had been informed of the budget for the year and “noted that this budget allocation is not sufficient to meet the current regulatory and organisational requirements of the Charities Regulator and, as a result, the Charities Regulator’s ability to carry out certain business activities can be expected to be impacted in 2024 due to budget constraints”.
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The minutes state that members of the regulator’s board “requested that the effects of the budgetary constraints be reflected in the risk register” of the organisation.
The Charities Regulator operates under the aegis of the Department of Rural and Community Development.
On February 7th, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, told an Oireachtas committee that there would be an increase in funding for the Charities Regulatory Authority this year from €5 million to €5.4 million.
The minutes of the board of the regulator state that management would “circulate a draft letter detailing the activities that will be impacted this year due to the insufficiency of the Charities Regulator’s budget allocation for 2024″.
It said this letter would be sent to the Department of Rural and Community Development.
The Charities Regulator did not comment at the weekend on whether there had been any resolution to the budgetary issues in the interim period.
It also declined to comment on the nature of its activities that would be affected by constraints on its funding.
The regulator has been involved in a number of high-profile investigations recently. Last year, it announced a full statutory investigation into concerns around finances and governance at the Peter McVerry Trust.
[ Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin subject of complaint to Charities RegulatorOpens in new window ]
The Charities Regulator was established in October 2014 pursuant to the Charities Act 2009. It is the State organisation responsible for registering and regulating all charities in Ireland.
Its key functions are to establish and maintain a public register of charitable organisations operating in Ireland and ensure their compliance with legislation governing the operation of charities in the country.
Under law it has the authority to appoint investigators to investigate the affairs of any charitable organisation.
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