New Governance Code Introduced to Promote Good Governance and Transparency.

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, on 28 June, 2012 launched a new code of practice designed to promote high standards of governance and transparency in the charity sector.

The Governance Code for Community, Voluntary and Charitable Organisations provides, for the first time, clear guidelines on the roles, duties and responsibilities of those who run community, voluntary or charitable organisations. The Code can be adopted by nonprofit organisations of all sizes – from small volunteer-led groups to large domestic and international charities.

The Governance Code was developed over a three-year period by a Working Group of eight charities, assisted by a number of experts in the area of governance. The Working Group consulted widely with community and voluntary organisations, funders, regulators, statutory bodies and other stakeholders.

Over 150 charities have already committed to adopting the Governance Code. Speaking at the launch in Dublin’s Mansion House, Deirdre Garvey, Chairperson of the Working Group, said that the enthusiastic reaction to the Code is evidence that charities care passionately about running their organisations to the highest possible standards. “Charities rely on the trust of the public and their funders; upholding high standards of governance, accountability and transparency is essential to maintaining that trust. The Governance Code provides community, voluntary and charitable organisations with both a benchmark of good governance and a tool to demonstrate their trustworthiness,” said Ms Garvey.

Welcoming the Governance Code at the launch, Minister Phil Hogan said: “Now more than ever we all need to demonstrate to the public that we are delivering on goals for the public’s very scarce resources. It does not matter whether you are a Philanthropic organisation, a Community and Voluntary organisation or a Government Department, we all need to make better decisions, better investments and we need to demonstrate the impact and benefits of these investments.“

The Working Group also called on Government to commence the Charities Act 2009 fully, as soon as possible: “In the absence of adequate regulation, the community, voluntary and charity sector has shown great initiative by developing this Code, particularly at a time when many charities are struggling with funding and an increasing demand for their services. However, only the full commencement of the Charities Act will provide a complete framework of oversight for charities,” said Ms Garvey.

Read the launch address by Minister Phil Hogan here.

Read the Keynote address by Ombudsman Commissioner, Emily O'Reilly here.

Read the speech by Chair, CGAI, Michael Kelly here.

Get the speech by CEO, Bray Cancer Support, Veronica O'Leary here.

Get the speech by Chair of the Governance sub-group, One Family, Anne-Marie McGauran here.

Head over to the Governance Code new Facebook Page here.

Speaker Biographies

Code launched by: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD.

Phil Hogan was first elected to the Dáil in 1989 and has been successfully elected in all subsequent elections. He is one of Fine Gael’s most well-known politicians and was the Party’s Spokesman for Environment, Heritage & Local Government in the 30th Dáil. He was also Fine Gael’s National Director of Elections in the 2011 Election.

Phil Hogan served as Minister for State in Department of Finance in the last Fine Gael Government at a time where job growth was at an all time high.

In Fine Gael, Phil Hogan has held a vast array of positions including Parliamentary Party Chairman, Director of Organisation, Enterprise Spokesman as well as Consumer Affairs, Regional Affairs and Food Industry positions. Phil Hogan served as a Senator from 1987 – 1989. He is a graduate of University College Cork (BA, HDipEd)

Keynote Speaker: Emily O'Reilly, Ombudsman.

On 11 June 2009, Emily O'Reilly was appointed to a second six year term as Ombudsman and Information Commissioner by the President, Mrs Mary McAleese, at a ceremony in Áras an Úachtaráin.

As Ombudsman, Ms O'Reilly is also an ex-officio member of the Standards in Public Office Commission, the Referendum Commission, the Constituency Commission and the Commission for Public Service Appointments.

In May 2007, following the introduction of the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations which transposed Directive 2003/4/EC into Irish law, Ms O'Reilly was assigned the additional role of Commissioner for Environmental Information.

Prior to her initial appointment as Ombudsman and Information Commissioner in June 2003, Ms O'Reilly was an accomplished journalist and author whose roles included many years as a political correspondent with prominent print and broadcasting media.

She is a native of Tullamore, Co Offaly and is married with five children. Ms O'Reilly is a graduate of University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin.

She was also the recipient of a Niemann Fellowship in Journalism at Harvard University, Cambridge, U.S.A. In December 2008 Ms O'Reilly was awarded a Doctor of Laws by the National University of Ireland in recognition of her contribution to public service and to human rights.

Keynote Speaker: Michael Kelly, Chairman of the Corporate Governance Association of Ireland.

The aim of CGAI is to develop stronger corporate governance in Ireland and through its membership it seeks to influence, educate and support others in the dissemination and implementation of best practice governance standards. Its membership comprises holders of the UCD Post-Grad Diploma in Corporate Governance or equivalent qualification.

A former Secretary General of the Department of Health and later, Chair of the Higher Education Authority, he now practices as a Principal with Empeira Corporate Governance Advisors.

As a founding member of the Chairs Forum and as Non Executive Director on a number of boards spanning the public, private and voluntary sectors, Michael Kelly has extensive practical board-room experience and first hand knowledge of the challenges faced by boards and individual directors.

Programme Content