Charities (Amendment) Act 2024

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Insertion of new Part 6A in Principal Act

34. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following Part after Part 6:

“PART 6A

AGREEMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS

Definitions – Part 6A

88A. In this Part—

‘agreement’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 88C(1);

‘appointment’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 88C(3);

‘public body’ means—

(a) a Department of State,

(b) a local authority within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001,

(c) the Health Service Executive,

(d) any other person, body or organisation established—

(i) by or under an enactment (other than the Act of 2014),

(ii) by any scheme administered by a Minister of the Government, or

(iii) under the Act of 2014 or a former enactment relating to companies within the meaning of section 5 of that Act, in pursuance of powers conferred by or under another enactment and financed wholly or partly by means of money provided, or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government,

or

(e) any other person, body, organisation or group that the Minister may prescribe to be a public body for the purposes of this Part;

‘relevant person’ means, in relation to a charitable organisation—

(a) a member of the charitable organisation,

(b) a charity trustee of the charitable organisation, or

(c) a person with whom a charity trustee of the charitable organisation has a personal connection;

‘remuneration’ means consideration, whether in cash or in kind, paid out of the property of the charitable organisation, and includes a contribution to a pension plan;

‘service’ includes the provision of a good, but does not include a function ordinarily carried out by a charity trustee of a charitable organisation.

Remuneration

88B. (1) A charitable organisation may only provide remuneration—

(a) to, or on behalf of, a relevant person—

(i) under an agreement in accordance with section 88C,

(ii) in accordance with a court order, or

(iii) in his or her capacity as an employee of the charitable organisation,

(b) to a charity trustee of the charitable organisation in respect of reasonable expenses incurred by him or her in the administration or management of the charitable organisation, or

(c) to a charity trustee of a charitable organisation that is an education body or a public body in accordance with an enactment other than this Act.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent a charitable organisation that is an education body from providing funding to a relevant person who is a student of that education body in connection with his or her education.

Agreements and appointments

88C. (1) A charitable organisation may enter into an agreement with a relevant person for the provision by the relevant person of a service to, or on behalf of, the charitable organisation for remuneration (in this Part referred to as an ‘agreement’).

(2) Remuneration provided to, or on behalf of, a relevant person under an agreement shall not exceed what is reasonable and proportionate having regard to the service provided by the relevant person.

(3) A charitable organisation may appoint a current employee of the charitable organisation as a charity trustee (in this Part referred to as an ‘appointment’), which appointment shall be in accordance with any regulations made under subsection (7)(a).

(4) A charitable organisation shall not enter into an agreement or make an appointment—

(a) in contravention of the express provisions of its constitution, and

(b) unless the charity trustees of the charitable organisation (not counting a charity trustee who is a party to the agreement or appointment or a charity trustee who has a personal connection with a party to the agreement or appointment) are satisfied that the agreement or appointment would be in the best interests of the charitable organisation.

(5) Where a charitable organisation has entered into an agreement or made an appointment in a financial year, the annual return (within the meaning of section 52) shall include a declaration that the charity trustees of the charitable organisation referred to in subsection (4)(b) are satisfied that the agreement or appointment is in the best interests of the charitable organisation.

(6) Each charitable organisation shall keep a register of agreements and appointments.

(7) The Minister may prescribe—

(a) the circumstances in which a charitable organisation (other than a charitable organisation referred to in subsection (12)) may make an appointment having regard to the requirements of different charitable organisations,

(b) the particulars to be included in a declaration under subsection (5), and

(c) the particulars to be included in a register under subsection (6).

(8) Where in relation to an agreement or appointment there has been a contravention of this Part, the agreement or appointment, as the case may be, shall be null and void.

(9) Subsection (8) shall not operate to prevent a charitable organisation or a relevant person that has acted in good faith from recovering damages in respect of any loss incurred by it, him or her by virtue of an agreement or appointment to which that subsection applies.

(10) A person who, in purported compliance with this section or regulations made under this section, knowingly or recklessly provides information or a particular to the Authority that is false or misleading in a material respect, or who believes any such information or particular when provided by him or her, in purported compliance with this section, not to be true, shall be guilty of an offence.

(11) The charity trustees of a charitable organisation in respect of which there is a contravention of this Part or regulations made under this section shall each be guilty of an offence.

(12) Subsections (5), (6) and (10) do not apply to an education body or a public body.”.