Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I wish to discuss Benefacts. I will read from the conclusions of the Indecon report: “The overall benefits of the Benefacts’ service are likely to be in excess of the costs”. It also referred to a need for more specialised data and expanding on the service. Indecon’s analysis reads: “The methodologies used by Benefacts are appropriate and are in line with the approaches used in other countries.” The same report refers to the terms of reference being exceeded, which I mentioned earlier. Indecon considered whether it was a market good and talked about this being a mature market and that Benefacts could bid within a process. In that context, the Indecon report is stating that, if there were such a bid and depending on the timescales involved, the Government may need to consider transitional arrangements if the existing assets, experience and knowledge are to be maintained. Indecon’s analysis suggested that ceasing funding of Benefacts or an alternative service would reduce information that was needed for effective governance.

I do not understand how the Department can dispense with a database about which all of this is said in a report that the Department commissioned. For good governance, this information is required. I do not understand why Indecon was asked to consider the question of whether it was a market good or a public good and why the Office of Public Procurement could not have undertaken a fair and open inquiry into this.

Databases similar to Benefacts exist in other countries. Now we are moving to a point where Pobal will be asked to recreate a similar, but probably more limited, database. What is the point of that? We are discussing €6 million. I do not understand the rationale for shutting this database down. How could the Department consider that value for money?