Ireland's top 1,000 companies give about £32 million a year to sports, charities and other non-profit bodies, a survey has found.
But the level of giving is far below that of their counterparts in the United States, according to the survey by the policy research centre of the National College of Ireland. If Irish companies had reached that level, the top 1,000 would give £79 million.
In the survey, a sample of 257 companies said they gave £12 million to non-profit bodies in 1997. The researchers estimate that the top 500 companies gave £19 million and the next 500 about £13 million.
The main beneficiaries were sports bodies (23 per cent) followed by community development projects (19 per cent) and education (17 per cent).
After the survey was released yesterday, the president of the National College of Ireland, Prof Joyce O'Connor, called for regulation of the fund-raising activities of charities. She said regulation could be accompanied by tax breaks to encourage donations.
"Partnership between the corporate and voluntary sectors needs to be facilitated so that the benefits accrue to all," she added.
pomorain@irish-times.ie