The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, today (Wednesday) officially launched the new Benefacts website, www.benefacts.ie, that will deliver greater public transparency on the work and funding of the not-for-profit sector in Ireland.
Benefacts is a partnership initiative between Government, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Ireland Funds.
Speaking at the launch today, Minister Donohoe said: “Benefacts is a tangible example of how Government can work in partnership with the community, voluntary and philanthropic sectors to design and deliver new services that benefit our citizens”.
“This free, online database will provide enhanced access to regulatory, financial and governance data about an entire sector that employs more than 107,000 people, and receives in excess of €4bn annually in Government funding. Greater openness, transparency and improved accountability are at the core of our vision for Benefacts and this database will provide Government with the infrastructure necessary to underpin a higher quality assessment of public spending. It will also support the delivery of a number of key objectives of the Public Service Reform Plan.
“I am strongly supportive of Benefacts and believe that it will significantly enhance the effectiveness of Government’s interaction with the not-for-profit sector, delivering major benefits to us all in terms of transparency, governance, regulation and policy making.”
The 18,600 NonProfits in the Benefacts database include all registered charities, and also thousands of other NGOs, including education institutions, social enterprises and sports and professional bodies.
Note to Editors
Benefacts is a non-profit company, established in 2014 to promote the transparency and accessibility of information on Irish NonProfits.
Over the period 2015-2017, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will provide grant funding of €1.95 million toward this initiative. Match funding is being providing by Atlantic Philanthropies and the Ireland Funds.
The co-funders will work collectively to ensure that Benefacts promotes public awareness of those who work tirelessly on behalf of the most vulnerable in our society.
Benefacts’ data will also support Government in the delivery of a number of key objectives of the Public Service Reform Plan. These include:
- A Focus on Service Users: Designing and delivering services that have a much greater focus on outcomes and meeting the needs of service users.
- A Focus on Openness, Transparency and Accountability: Making data held by public bodies available and easily accessible online for reuse and redistribution.
A Stakeholders Forum comprised of representatives from the community and voluntary sector has been established to advise Benefacts. This Forum will promote citizen participation in this initiative and ensure that Benefacts remains reflective of the interests of civil society.
ENDS