Vol. 500 No. 7
274 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance the number of bodies recorded as having charitable status as of 18 December 1998 which have ceased operations or dissolved prior to 29 January 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4833/99]
I presume the Deputy is referring to the number of bodies which were recorded as holding tax exemption as charities on 18 December 1998 and which on 29 January 1999 were known to have ceased operations or to have dissolved.
The Revenue Commissioners have informed me that they commenced a consultation process on 27 November 1998 with a total of 6,305 bodies recorded as holding tax exemption as charities as of that date. This consultation process ran until mid-January 1999 and the Revenue list of exempt bodies was not updated until then. The Revenue Commissioners have advised me that by 29 January 1999, a total of 539 bodies recorded as holding exemption on 27 November 1998 were notified to have either ceased operating or to have dissolved, or – particularly in the case of religious bodies – to have had their exemption subsumed with that of a parent or provincial body prior to or during the consultation process. The Revenue Commissioners have also informed me that a substantial number of bodies which are still recorded as holding exemption are likely to have ceased operating and work is ongoing to identify these bodies.
275 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance the number of bodies granted charitable status in the period 18 December 1998 to 29 January 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4834/99]
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that 27 bodies were granted charitable tax exemption in the period 18 December 1998 to 29 January 1999.
276 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance the contact name and address of each of the 5,666 bodies included in the list of charitable bodies published by the Revenue Commissioners in January 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4835/99]
277 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance the basis upon which charitable status has been granted to each of the 5,666 bodies on the list of charitable bodies published by the Revenue Commissioners in January 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4836/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 276 and 277 together.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that records are not maintained by them in a manner which would enable all the information requested by the Deputy to be provided without the expenditure of an inordinate amount of official time. However, the Commissioners have advised me that a substantial number of the addresses of the bodies in question, as well as an indication of the categories under which exemption was granted, are contained in a computerised database drawn from the relevant files and this information will be provided to the Deputy as soon as possible. Revenue is unable to provide the Deputy with a contact name for each of the bodies in question as this information is not included on the database.
