Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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Deputy Murphy is not here. I am aware that she had a particular interest in Benefacts, on which I supported her. I note we are not publishing the correspondence but I can refer to it. Both Deputy Murphy and I were trying to understand why Benefacts was being brought to a close in real terms because we were not funding it any longer and we sought more information about why that might be. I will not read directly from the document but I will refer to it. It seems there is a recognition in the Department that the Benefacts service was worth preserving. It seems the discussion was that it did not have sufficient scope or control over the project and this is why it was unhappy with the grant system. Having read through it all, it is not clear why we have decided to truncate or end that service. It does not seem that what is being proposed is similar or equal. As Deputy Catherine Murphy is not here, perhaps we could roll this discussion on to the next meeting. There is more work to be done here. We are losing an important service in the context of transparency and, reading between the lines here, I believe civil servants recognise that. There is a recognition of that in the correspondence. There is more work to be done here. I do not know what the work should be. If the Department does not want us to publish the correspondence, can we even have this matter on the work programme? I am not sure.