ActionAid Ireland is governed by a Board of Directors whose principal responsibilities are the setting and monitoring of the strategic direction of the organisation, monitoring compliance, ensuring the efficient and effective use of resources and the establishment of policy. No remuneration is paid to Directors for their services on the Board. Directly incurred expenses are reimbursed if claimed. ActionAid Ireland’s Directors are required to declare any conflicts of interest at the start of every Board meeting.
As disclosed in ActionAid Ireland’s Audited Accounts for 2024, total expenditure in 2024 was €3,105,697. Of that, 73% was spent on charitable activities: overseas development work, emergency response activities, overseas support costs, local campaigning and communications, and governance. The remaining 27% was spent on raising funds.
As of June 2025, ActionAid Ireland has 14 full-time paid staff members and 3 part-time paid staff members.
As at June 2025 ActionAid Ireland’s CEO’s gross salary is €89,460. The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme which is available to all employees, to which both ActionAid and the employees contribute. The salary is decided by the Board of ActionAid Ireland based on the skills and responsibility required for the role.
You can be assured that as a charity supported by voluntary public donations ActionAid Ireland will always:
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We take our obligations around transparency and good governance seriously. ActionAid Ireland has achieved the “triple-lock” of good governance and reporting standards:
This has been recognised by Charities Institute Ireland, of which we are a member.
ActionAid Ireland is a member of the Integrity at Work programme, a Transparency International Ireland initiative that supports employers to foster an environment where staff feel safe to share concerns of wrongdoing. As part of our commitment to protecting workers who raise concerns, and addressing proactively wrongdoings, ActionAid Ireland has signed the Integrity at Work Pledge to ensure that workers reporting wrongdoing will not face penalisation and that timely appropriate action will be taken in response to the concerns raised.
Reserves help to maintain financial stability and allow a charity to meet its commitments, continue to undertake work, and deliver services, even when unexpected events or costs arise.
Why we hold reserves:
By holding appropriate reserves, we are acting to protect the charity from future challenges and uncertainties and changes in economic circumstances.
ActionAid Ireland considers it appropriate to hold four months of ‘core’ unrestricted expenditure as minimum reserve levels. As of December 2024, we are holding reserves of c4.8 months’ ‘core’ unrestricted expenditure (€621,079). The Board expects to reach minimum reserves levels during the next year in line with our approved strategy to invest excess reserves above minimum levels into fundraising in order to secure the medium-term financial sustainability of the organisation. The Board monitors the reserves position closely.
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The Charities Governance Code sets out the minimum standards that charity trustees should meets in order to effectively manage and control their organisation.
The Charities Governance Code consists of six principles of governance. These are:
The six principles are linked to the legal duties of charity trustees. The Code specifically aims to help charity trustees to put good governance systems and processes in place which will assist them in meeting their legal duties under charity law.
Good governance minimises the risk of fraud and other damaging practices – ensuring a charity is managed in a professional, transparent, and accountable way. This also serves to give confidence to funders and donors.
The ActionAid Ireland Board approves its compliance with the Charities Governance Code on an annual basis.
In 2021 ActionAid Ireland was shortlisted for a Good Governance Award by Carmichael.
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