Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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321. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason an NGO (details supplied) which published reports on transparency and funding of all NGOs in Ireland, was denied funding to continue operating by the then-Minister, forcing the site to close down in 2022; to provide full detail on its funding history; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45129/24]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. As he may be aware, my Department provided grant funding to Benefacts between the period 2015-2022. The project was funded as a pathfinder initiative in the area of data analytics on the non-profit sector. Benefacts was initially co-funded with philanthropy, however, in recent years the Department had been providing the majority of funding to the entity.

In 2019, the Department received an independent report, which it commissioned to provide analysis of the market for data on the non-profit sector. This report examined, inter alia, issues around the demand for the data concerned; methodologies and technologies used; the potential for direct provision by the State of these services itself, and; the maturity of the market to provide these services efficiently. On foot of this report, a review was undertaken in 2020 which found that the business case for the continued funding of Benefacts by this Department was no longer justified and accordingly the decision was made to terminate funding.

Recognising that other public service bodies - with direct policy involvement in the not-for-profit sector - may have wished to consider whether they had an appreciable business case to continue funding Benefacts, my Department agreed to fund the initiative up to the end of 2021. This provision was made to facilitate relevant public service bodies to consider their position and to assess all options in relation to their respective business needs concerning data on the not-for-profit sector.

In April 2021, my Department reaffirmed its 2020 decision to the parties concerned. Furthermore, in acknowledgment of the impact of Covid19 on this deliberative process, DPER sanctioned a final three month extension of funding to Benefacts up to the 31st March 2022. Despite affording a total period of approximately 20 months' notice - to allow the identification of another primary funder - no alternative funding source was identified from public service bodies that used Benefacts.

The factors influencing the original decision to terminate funding have not changed and consequently, my Department has no plans to reconstitute Benefacts.