Topic summary

Charities Regulator

Charities Regulator

The Charities Regulator (Irish: An Rialálaí Carthanas) is the operational name of the Charities Regulatory Authority, the statutory authority responsible for the regulation of charities in Ireland. The organisation is made up of a board, with four sub-committees, and as of 2019, a staff of 38, including a chief executive.

The Charities Act 2009 provided for the establishment of the regulator and the dissolution of a predecessor body, among other matters, but the authority was not actually established until October 2014. The 2009 act was a major reform of the legal framework for the registration and regulation of charities in Ireland, superseding a range of earlier acts back to the 17th century, and various common and case law provisions. The act made major changes to the registration of charities; it also empowered the regulator to investigate the affairs of any charitable organisation, although some of these powers were only commenced later. Several high-profile investigations have followed.