ISPCC backs staff as Garda continues finances inquiry

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children will await the outcome of the Garda investigation into its finances…

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children will await the outcome of the Garda investigation into its finances before deciding whether to hold an internal inquiry, its chairwoman said yesterday.

Ms Mary Bennett told The Irish Times the ISPCC had been told by the Garda the investigation would take a further two weeks.

In a statement yesterday, the society expressed "absolute confidence and trust" in all its management and employees. It made it clear that Childline volunteers would continue to be expected to raise funds for the ISPCC, though the requirement to sell three £100 tickets each has been dropped.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said yesterday that it was in the initial stages of drafting legislation to regulate charities.

READ MORE

The ISPCC yesterday made a statement on the two issues which have kept it in the headlines for the past few days: alleged underpayments to collectors and the running of its Childline service.

The first issue, which led to the current Garda National Bureau of Fraud investigation, arose from a Sunday Business Post article in December, which reported that the amounts in 10 sealed collectors' buckets, containing known sums of money, were underestimated in every case by the ISPCC.

The ISPCC yesterday expressed complete confidence in its procedures. "The society has in place a rigorous system of internal controls which are kept under constant review and which are subject to annual review by external auditors in common with any other business whose accounts are subject to audit," the society said.

It said it would not deal with the subject matter of the Sunday Business Post articles "as we have already issued proceedings against the newspaper for damages for libel arising from the article".

It also said Mr Cian O Tighearnaigh, the ISPCC chief executive, had not made himself available to the newspaper since publication of the article and that "this course of action has been dictated by our legal advisers".

On the issue of fundraising by Childline volunteers, the statement said all potential volunteers "are clearly informed of the expectation by the society that they will become actively involved in all society activities, including the provision of direct services to children, campaigning and fund raising. It is regrettable for a minority of volunteers that the fundraising requirement was found to be distasteful and unacceptable.

"The society also regrets that for a period of months last year an element of compulsion was introduced which obliged volunteers to sell at least three draw tickets at £100 each and that some volunteers disengaged themselves from the agency for this reason. The compulsion was quickly removed and only those volunteers who objected to fundraising as a concept were disengaged or disengaged themselves from the society."

The ISPCC says it now has a new system in place in which volunteers set their own fundraising targets. The society also issued an invitation to former or current volunteers to raise any "worries, concerns or issues", promising that "any such issues will be treated both sensitively and confidentially".

Progressive Democrat Senator Mairin Quill yesterday called for the introduction of legislation to regulate charities. "It is a scandalous situation that there is no system to monitor the millions of pounds that Irish charities gather each year," she said.

Green Party TD Mr John Gormley noted in a statement that it was 10 years since an official committee recommended the establishment of an authority with supervisory and regulatory powers in the area, as well as 80 other changes. "Yet all those years later, nothing has been done and I believe the matter now requires urgent attention," he said.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said a comprehensive system of registration of charities was "in the pipeline" and that the drafting of legislation was in the initial stages.

The Sunday Business Post said last night that it would vigorously defend its report.