A new website will provide greater public transparency on the work and funding of the not-for-profit sector in Ireland. Benefacts, developed and funded by the government, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Ireland Funds, is an online database providing access to regulatory, financial and governance data about the charity and non-profit sector.

The website was launched by public expenditure minister Paschal Donohue (pictured), who described it as “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”.

The minister added: “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 €4 billion 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.”

The 18,600 non-profits in the Benefacts.ie database include all registered charities, and also thousands of other NGOs, including education institutions, social enterprises and sports and professional bodies.

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Over the period 2015-2017, Donohue’s department is providing funding of €2 million for the initiative, which has involved an enormous amount of research. Matching funding is being providing by Atlantic Philanthropies and the Ireland Funds.

Donohoe added that the data collected by the Benefacts project will also support government in achieving key objectives of the Public Service Reform Plan, including designing and delivering services that have a much greater focus on outcomes and meeting the needs of service users.