The National Federation of NGOs said in a statement today that non-government organisations needed to see benefits from registering in terms of the Voluntary Organisations Act and complying with its requirements, including audting of their accounts.

"Unfortunately, many NGOs still see their registration under the Act as a duty, with little benefit in return. Some do not receive public funding, or raise funds publically because of the nature of their organisation. Furthermore, the option to register with the police for public fundraising further removes the benefit of registering with the Voluntary Organisations Commission. We believe that the sector needs to see tangible benefits for registration, including access to funds not open to non-registered organisations, capacity building support by the VOC and access special EU schemes and funds open only to registered NGOs," the federation said.

It backed comments made last week in the annual report by the Voluntary Organisations Commissioner who called for an end to the “discriminatory” situation whereby some large organisations were given state funding despite not being officially registered.

The law on voluntary organisations should apply for everyone if it is to encourage a culture of transparency and accountability, Kenneth Wain, the NGOs Commissioner, had said.

The federation said the Commissioner should be allowed to do his job, as the regulator of the sector. The Voluntary Organisations Council should be supporting the sector as is outlined in its aims and objectives.