Less than 5 per cent of Irish charities comply with a code which outlines how they should be governed.

The Carmichael Centre - which deals with voluntary groups - wants more charties to sign up to the code to ensure they are transparent and managed in line with best practice.

It comes as GLEN is the latest charity to face scrutiny over its financial affairs.

Fewer than 400 of the 8,150 charities in ireland are compliant with the code - although just over 1,000 have committed to adopting it.

Diairmaid Ó Corrbuí from the Carmichael Centre - which helped develop the code - says "there's a lot of work to be done to restore public faith in the sector"

They're launching more resources to make it easier for charties to sign up and show the public that they are being run correctly.

Diarmuid says that charities can become "complacent" and that "lines can become blurred if they don't change their directors regularly".

The aim is for the public to be able to clearly see where their money is going and to ensure that they have the faith to continue giving to charities.

Nicole Gernon reports: