Sharon Keogan criticises NGO funding and calls for transparency
Sharon Keogan warned of waste in government outsourcing to NGOs and criticised the defunding of Benefacts while accusing the state of continuing to fund organisations with poor financial accountability. She opened by invoking Ash Wednesday and global persecution of Christians, citing the killing of 70 Christians in the Congo on 13th February.
Church and global persecution
The speech began on Ash Wednesday, framed as a season of fasting and prayer, and emphasised that Christians still face persecution worldwide. Keogan cited the 13th of February attack in the Congo in which 70 Christians were killed to underline the fragility of religious freedom.
Public anger over examples of waste
Keogan referenced Senator Mullan and a Dáil debate, saying high-profile stories such as the scanner and the bike shed spark uproar because they embody systemic waste rather than isolated incidents. She argued the Irish people are angry not because of a few bad apples but because these examples are perceived as the worst off the barrel - evidence of broader problems of government waste.
Benefacts defunding questioned
She criticised the 2022 decision to defund Benefacts, noting that from 2015 Benefacts had accounted for the source and destination of every cent NGOs received. Keogan said the government has yet to provide a satisfactory explanation for ending that operation and described the loss as leaving a transparency gap in NGO oversight.
Concerns about NGO oversight and TENI funding
Keogan contrasted Benefacts with the Transgender Equality Network Ireland - referred to in the transcript as Tenney - pointing out that Tenney repeatedly failed to return completed financial accounts and that the HSE suspended its connection in 2022. Despite those issues, she noted funding to Tenney increased in 2023 to over €250,000 and said 2024 funding remained unknown.
Call for finance minister's explanation
Keogan called on the Minister of Finance to establish an in-house counterpart to Benefacts and to explain why Benefacts was defunded. She argued Ireland needs its own "doge" because, in her words, Ireland has its own US aid problem - and insisted taxpayers deserve to know what has been done with their money.
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Ash Wednesday, Catholics throughout the world prepare for Lent, our season of fasting and prayer. Our ashes represent our faith, a time for penance and our mortality. Today I would like to remind you that Christians are still persecuted and discriminated throughout the world. On the 13th of February, 70 Christians were killed in the Congo. So practising our faith is not something we should take for granted in a fast changing world. So we heard last week from Senator Mullan, Ireland leads a Department of Government Efficiency and I would like to reiterate this call. I think this morning there is a debate in the Dáil about it. Senator Mullan cited some of the more prominent examples that have been in the news lately, the scanner, the bike shed and so on. Some people are willing to hand wave these stories as a one-off instance that are being exploited for cheap tabloid headlines. But the reason these stories cause such an uproar is because everybody feels they embody what a systemic problem of waste in the Irish government is. The Irish people are angry not because these examples are just a few bad apples. They are angry because they are most off the barrel. The reason Ireland needs its own doge is because Ireland has its own US aid problem. This is to say we have a problem with pouring obscene amounts of taxpayers' money into an obscure and unaccountable NGO sector to whom the Irish government outsources its policy making. In fact, we already had an Irish doge, the benefacts. From 2015 onwards, benefacts ensured that the source of every cent NGOs received was accounted for, as was their destination. Then, inexplicably, in 2022, the entire operation was defunded. To this end, the government has yet to provide a satisfactory explanation as to why it did so. While the government claims that benefacts was not worth the money, I struggle to find this an acceptable answer. Let's compare benefacts to the Transgender Equality Network Ireland, or Tenney for example. For several years in a row, Tenney outright failed to return completed financial accounts to the Irish government, eventually prompting the HSE to suspend its connection with Tenney in 2022 over the severity of the issue. How did the Irish government respond? They increased funding to Tenney the following year, giving it over €250,000 in 2023, and in 2024 we don't know yet. Remember, members of the House, benefacts is gone. In the meantime, the government has yet to create the in-house counterpart to benefacts, for which I call on the Minister of Finance to give a real explanation. It is high time that Irish people learn what has been done with their money.
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