Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2026
506. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the funding allocated to NGOs by his Department in 2025; the funding allocated to NGOs by agencies and bodies under the remit of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13091/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra512. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the position regarding the total level of Exchequer funding spent by his Department on funding NGOs, by organisation, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11803/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra513. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the position regarding the total level of Exchequer funding spent on funding NGOs by his Department, in each of the years since 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11821/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra514. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the position regarding the assessments that are carried out to determine the level of Exchequer funding that any NGO receives from his Department on an annual basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11839/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra515. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the position regarding any direct lobbying he has received from any NGO in relation to his annual funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11865/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 506, 512, 513, 514 and 515 together.
The term non-governmental organisation (NGO) is typically used to refer to civil society bodies, which is the approach taken in this reply. In that context, my Department has funded three NGO’s.
Transparency International Ireland (TII) has been funded by my Department since 2013 to support the Department’s role in the implementation of the Protected Disclosures Act. The Department provides this funding in order to help workers raise concerns regarding potential wrongdoing that has come to their attention in the workplace.
My Department provided grant funding to Benefacts between the period 2015 and 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 later years, the Department had been providing the majority of funding to the entity. On foot of an independent report in 2019 and a subsequent review in 2020, my Department ceased funding Benefacts in March 2022.
In 2025, my Department provided funding to Electronics Watch, a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to use public procurement leverage to promote and protect the rights of workers in global supply chains.
The total funding provided for the last five years is set out in the table below.
|
Year |
Transparency International Ireland |
Benefacts |
Electronics Watch |
|
2026 |
€368,500 |
0 |
0 |
|
2025 |
€368,500 |
0 |
€27,740 |
|
2024 |
€368,500 |
0 |
0 |
|
2023 |
€373,453 |
€(87,000)* |
0 |
|
2022 |
€285,000 |
€263,852 |
0 |
* At its cessation, Benefacts refunded grant monies of €87,000 owed to the Department.
With regard to the ongoing TII funding, my Department adopts a variety of procedures and assessments to determine the level of Exchequer funding required. Terms of accounting and performance reporting are agreed in the grant funding agreement. Expenditure profiles and management accounts are submitted throughout the year. Annual audited accounts are submitted yearly. These are available on TII's website. Expenditure is reviewed alongside the narrative report submitted by TII each year ahead of agreement of funding for the following year. The conditions for the funding of the grant includes a full breakdown of projected spend for the year including pay and programme expenditure. This is set out in the funding agreement signed by the responsible Assistant Secretary in my Department and the CEO of TII. The funding for TII adheres to Circular 13/2014 on the Management of and Accountability for Grants from Exchequer Funds, which outlines the requirements to be followed by grantors and grantees in the management of grant funding provided from public money. This Circular makes clear that there should be transparency and accountability in the management of public money, in line with economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
Finally, under the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015, Ministers are Designated Public Officials (DPO) and lobbyists are proactively advised of this. Under the Act, any lobbyist who contacts a DPO must register on the register of lobbying and submit returns three times a year. All lobbying activities are to be recorded and available to access on www.lobbying.ie. The register reports that Transparency International Ireland has made 16 returns to my Department and 7 of these relate to matters involving public funds. I have never received any direct lobbying from the other two NGO's.
