Praise for Government body amid closure controversy

Scrapped Benefacts database 'helped CSO fulfil important statistical reporting'

The decision to wind up Benefacts was branded 'extraordinary' by vice chair of the PAC Catherine Murphy TD. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

The Central Statistics Office has heaped praise on the recently-scrapped State-funded body Benefacts, stating the service had provided it with data which was “not otherwise available”.

Benefacts, a free-to-access database of the financial information behind Ireland’s non-profit organisations and charities, was recently wound up by the Government in controversial circumstances, with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform deeming the State’s input to be "far in excess of the quantifiable benefits derived" from the service.