Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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644. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason the State closed the Benefacts database in 2021; the evaluation that was undertaken prior to its closure; and his plans to replace it with a new independent oversight body. [46640/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department previously 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, over time 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.

My Department agreed to fund the initiative up to the end of 2021 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. 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. 

My Department has no plans to reinstate funding for Benefacts or a new independent oversight body.