Irish Cancer Society condemns actions of former CRC board and calls for urgent appointment of charities regulator

Nothing less can reassure the public that charity sector can be trusted with public funds The Irish Cancer Society has expressed its shock at yesterday’s revelations at the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee about the use of fundraised income to pay a massive and secret pension deal to the former CEO of the Central Remedial Clinic. Mr. John McCormack, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society, in a statement today, said:“We condemn these actions unequivocally as a fundamental breach of the trust placed in this board by the many people who supported the charity and its vital work for disabled people. We support the work of the Public Accounts Committee and the HSE in their continuing investigation of the activities of the former Board of the CRC. What has happened at the top of the CRC is entirely unacceptable and has shattered public trust in charities in Ireland. This trust must be restored to ensure that the vital work being done by Irish charities is not put at further risk. That is why we are calling on the Government to do what is necessary to appoint a Charities Regulator as soon as possible. Most Irish charities, including the Irish Cancer Society, operate to the highest standards of governance and have signed up to voluntary codes of practice, such as the Fundraising Codes of Practice,  but this is now not enough to restore the public trust which has been broken by recent scandals. Many charities, including the Society, are also companies and are therefore required to be compliant with company law. It is urgent that the Government appoint the Charities Regulator which has been promised for so long. As one of the charities which has lobbied for a Regulator for many years, we are now calling on the Government to provide the resources necessary to implement the Charities Act in full and with speed. Mr. McCormack said that trust, once broken, is very difficult to rebuild and what the public and the charity sector needs is a figure in whom the public can have confidence, who is known to be the person who holds the sector accountable for operating to the highest standards of good governance and transparency, and who communicates, via the media, with the public, and who is the source of key public information on charities. The Irish Cancer Society, the national cancer charity, is virtually 100 percent reliant on public fundraising to run its services, which includes the free night nursing service for patients dying at home; major investment in cancer research; the Cancer Information Service, on the phone, online and in 12 Daffodil Centres nationwide; a volunteer driver service (Care2Drive); a financial aid service; patient support services and support to many local cancer support groups and services across Ireland. We cannot run the services we do or invest in important cancer research, and save lives, without public support and the many thousands of cancer patients and families who use these services would suffer if we didn’t provide them. We have taken on this critical role, and it is now time for the Government to do its part to ensure that the public trust which is necessary to maintain vital services, is restored as soon as possible.