‘Lack of consensus’ around who owns properties used by scouts, charities watchdog says
There is a “lack of consensus” among a number of entities about the beneficial ownership of many of the properties used by scouts around the country, a report from the Charities Regulator said. The watchdog said the ownership of the properties should be clarified for the sake of relevant individual scout groups as well as Scouting Ireland Unincorporated Association and Gasóga CLG. The findings come after the regulator investigated the affairs of six organisations: Gasóga na hÉireann/Scouting Ireland CLG, Scouting Ireland Unincorporated Association, Scouting Ireland SAI, Scouting Ireland (CSI), the Scout Foundation CLG, the Scout Association of Ireland Trust Corporation CLG and Scouting Trust Property CLG. As part of the investigation begun in 2025, inspectors reviewed 127 property files provided by the bodies. READ MOREFather has €5.8m property debts written off in return for €45,676Sentencing of publican Charlie Chawke’s son and daughter in assault case adjourned after guilty pleas ‘Ireland was not the continental Europe that I was fantasising about’Fianna Fáil created a middle class but has little to say to a generation unable to join itThe principal activities of scouting in Ireland are carried out by two organisations – Gasóga CLG and SI Unincorporated Association, the report published on Monday said.SI Unincorporated Association remains in existence though its continued purpose and activities are “not clear” following the decision to wind it down in 2018, according to the report. Gasóga CLG appears, based on its financial statements, to have assumed responsibility for its predecessors SAI and CSI.There have been “clear governance failings” arising from the failure to wind down SI Unincorporated Association which has consequences for scouting organisations in Ireland as a whole, the investigation found. “This has led to uncertainty around the ownership of a number of properties central to the organisations subject to this investigation. The knock-on effect of the failings in governance is that SI Unincorporated Association is not on the Register of Charities notwithstanding that it may be the owner of properties. There may also be some misunderstanding by the public that it is a registered charity.”The reported added it was not clear if all members of the scouting community in Ireland are aware that there are two separate organisations in existence: Gasóga CLG and SI Unincorporated Association.There are three property holding companies in existence (the Scout Foundation CLG, the Scout Association of Ireland Trust Corporation CLG and Scouting Trust Property CLG) with the trustees of all of them the same.The report said it has been accepted by all parties that the three property holding companies are the legal owners of the properties. “Beyond that, the inspectors cannot, from the information and documentation made available, establish or determine beneficial ownership of properties,” it said. “However, it is clear from the investigation that there is a lack of consensus among the various entities mentioned in this report about the beneficial ownership of many of the scouting properties around the country.”The investigation also established there is a “disconnect” between the three property holding companies, SI Unincorporated Association and Gasóga CLG which is “at odds with the traditional understanding of the trustee-beneficial owner relationship”.Madeleine Delaney, chief executive of the Charities Regulator, said: “The inspectors’ investigation showed that two parallel governance structures exist – only one of which is on the Register of Charities – for what is essentially the same organisation. “Furthermore, there is a lack of transparency and accountability across a number of charities and related organisations around the ownership and control of charity assets that is concerning.”Delaney said while the charity trustees of Gasóga na hÉireann/Scouting Ireland CLG made some efforts in recent years to resolve matters and exercise control over its charitable assets, “these efforts were not sufficient or persistent notwithstanding the challenges presented”. The regulator will be following up with the trustees of all charities involved in relation to the findings and urged them to take “immediate steps” to resolve governance issues and matters regarding the control and ownership of the charitable assets at question.
