The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland has said the registration of charities has been slower, and the quality of applications lower, than it had expected, with three applications rejected so far.

The Commission, which began compulsory charity registration in Northern Ireland for the first time in December 2013, said that the registration has been slower than anticipated, due to a “high number of poor quality applications, or applications submitted without the required documentation”.

It said that “the high number of poor applications means that more resources than anticipated are being targeted towards supporting charities through the process”.

It said three organisations were refused charity status for not demonstrating that they met the legal status to be registered as a charity in Northern Ireland. They are Rathfriland Development Association, the Judge Learned Hand Foundation for Civil and Religious Liberties and the Reformed Theological College.

When an application is submitted without all the required information, the Commission said its officers enter a "time consuming chase cycle” in order to notify and request the documentation from the applicant.

Where appropriate, “officers also work with charities to advise on where they may wish to consider improving or looking again at sections of their application in order for it to meet the requirements of charity law”. The Commission said this has, on occasion, required applications to be withdrawn and re-submitted.

So far 939 charities have been registered with the Commission so far, with more registering on a weekly basis. The Commission is also currently processing over 1,200 registration applications.

The Commission estimates that it will take three years before all existing charities have been assessed for registration and it reaches the point that it is processing applications from newly established organisations only.

A Commission spokeswoman said: “It is envisaged that information made public on the register of charities will increase the transparency and accountability of Northern Ireland’s charities, helping to reaffirm public trust and confidence.

"Charities can, for example, wear their registration as a badge of honour, demonstrating they have been legally confirmed as a charity and are open, accountable and transparent.”

Additional reporting by Emily Corfe.