Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development what a service that was formerly provided by a company (details supplied) will look like under the direction of her Department; and if she will give a commitment that the information available will be easily accessed and not restricted. [9236/23]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) had provided funding to the company in question, Benefacts. In 2020, in line with best practice, that Department undertook an internal review, which found that the business case for its continued funding of Benefacts was no longer justified.

The decision by DPER to cease funding Benefacts followed discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, of which my Department was one. Following careful consideration of the Benefacts product, including having regard to the risks identified in the internal analysis by DPER, my Department was not in a position to fund Benefacts.

The grant agreement and funding arrangement for services provided by Benefacts did not rest with my Department and no responsibility for Benefacts or its legacy has transferred to my Department. Any considerations in relation to data retention was a matter between Benefacts and DPER, in line with the conditions set out within their grant agreement.

In 2021, under a separate initiative and unrelated to anything previously developed by Benefacts, my Department began exploring options for the establishment of a 'centralised grantee database' for the community and voluntary sector. This work is in line with the Department’s Statement of Strategy and also the Department’s five year Strategy for the C&V sector, Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities.

Streamlining the compliance and reporting burden faced by the community and voluntary sector across many different agents of the State has been identified by the Department, via engagement with the sector, as a key requirement.

My Department subsequently recognized the term 'centralised database' did not adequately capture the intent of the proposal, and has applied the term 'National Funding Platform' as a more accurate descriptor of the proposal.

In May 2021, my Department entered into an agreement with Pobal to conduct a scoping exercise on the potential for a ‘National Funding Platform’ of community and voluntary organisations which have a funding relationship with the State.

The high level purpose of the scoping exercise was to explore options for a funding platform that would reduce the administrative burden on grantees and funders, as well as providing a single source of truth and source of analysis on state funded community and voluntary grantees, and the investment being made into these organisations.

The scoping exercise for the project has been completed and is under consideration by my Department. No decision has been made in respect of this project and the options contained in the scoping paper are still under consideration.

It should be noted that any decision to move forward with what would also be a significant ICT Development project would require a whole of Government approach, as well as being subject to Government approval, and would also be subject to the conditions set out in the public spending code.