Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We should include all public bodies in a simple easily accessible public spending website. This public spending website could be based on the American Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act 2006, introduced by President Obama when he was a Senator. This has led to the creation of website which lists any expenditure above $25,000 by the federal government and a number of states, although I am not sure how many.

It is completely open to the public. We have a lot of information online but it is not collected in one central website. I do not understand why we do not have one in a country of 4.5 million people. The state of Missouri in the US created a website showing how every $1 was spent in 2007. It cost approximately €150,000 for a state similar in the size to this country.

Here, some Government Departments are not even giving a full breakdown of how their money was spent. In the US, the Federal Government also publishes a vast array of data on data.gov. On recovery.gov, citizens can track how their stimulus funds were spent. Another website, foia.gov, launched in March 2011, lets people see whether agencies are fulfilling their obligations to disclose information under the Freedom of Information Act.We should name and shame those parts of government here which do not release information, especially related to finances, or do not release it in a timely manner.

I believe that instead of Deputies asking questions in the Dáil through the very old-fashioned system, and charade, of parliamentary questions, all spending could be put online on one single website for every Irish citizen to see.