Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Benefacts. It is important to put on the public record that Benefacts was not a public service body so it was not in the public sector family. While the State provided funding for the organisation for a number of years, it was not running the organisation. It was an external third-party body, which delivered a good service during its lifetime and there is no question whatsoever about that.

As the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I had a clear recommendation from within the Department following an examination that Benefacts did not constitute value for money and that the business case for its continued public funding did not stand up, and it was a matter for Benefacts to identify and source other potential revenue sources to ensure it could continue in existence. The Department consulted other Departments that we thought might have a use for the service provided by Benefacts, or a use for the information that it collated and presented on its website. We did not find any other public service body or Department in a position to take on the relationship to fund Benefacts because, in essence, they did not see value in it.

The Deputy would be first to call the Accounting Officer of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform before the Committee of Public Accounts if he ignored a recommendation to close down over a period public funding for the body. As I said, we consulted with a range of organisations, including the Department of Rural and Community Development, which has a key role in this area. As the Deputy knows, there has been significant investment in the Charities Regulator. Much more information is collated and presented by the Charities Regulator and the CSO.

As Minister, I received a recommendation that public funding for this third-party body no longer constituted value for money and, therefore, should be discontinued. This was the essence of it. I very much believe in open government. I am the Minister currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the freedom of information legislation. I believe it will result in legislation coming before the House in the months ahead that is not about narrowing its scope or restricting its operation in any way but will broaden it out and ensure it operates much more efficiently and meets the needs of service users who want to access public information held by the Government or other public service bodies.

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