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Statespend.ie, launched by Galway TD Albert Dolan and TPSA, now allows tracking of over €108 billion in Irish public spending to boost government transparency.
More than €108 billion in Irish public spending data can now be tracked on Statespend.ie, a website launched on Friday by Galway TD Albert Dolan and The Problem Solving Association ( TPSA), a non-profit group based in Galway. The site expands on a previous project that made records available for €78.5 billion worth of spending last year.
Background on the Spending Tracker
TPSA applies mathematics, physics and computer science to improve public services and transparency. The launch on Friday includes €108 billion worth of spending data, up from the €78.5 billion tracked in the previous version of the project.
Dolan said that many State entities were publishing records, but a significant number were not. He cited the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, which is responsible for developing the new national children's hospital, as an example. The board was not publishing purchase order records, and Dolan and Fenlon's work contributed to making their records available.
Another example is the Health Service Executive (HSE) purchase orders. Previously, the HSE only reported purchase orders of more than €100,000, but that threshold has now been dropped to €20,000, making more records public.
Dolan also said that they got Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to publish over €2 billion worth of records.
Accountability and the Panopticon Effect
Dolan explained that the project aims to help the Government, the public and other groups hold each other accountable for how public money is spent. Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers have been supportive of the project, he said.
He emphasised the importance of the panopticon effect, a psychological phenomenon where people regulate their own behaviour because they believe they might be constantly watched. According to Dolan, State bodies and entities need to know that when they spend money on public procurement, they are being watched not just by himself and other members of the Public Accounts Committee or the Comptroller and Auditor General, but by journalists too.
Dolan also highlighted the potential of the tool to create a golden thread of information. He explained that if the State enters into a contract, that contract leads to a series of things that happen to hopefully get to an outcome. Currently, there is no linking of payments in purchase orders back to the original contracts, so it is not possible to tell whether a contract was on, under or over budget based on what it was tendered for. This detail should be available to all of the public and, most importantly, in as close to real time as possible for ministers so that they know when something is going wrong.
Political Context and Future Budget Hopes
In the aftermath of April's fuel protests, Dolan, James O'Connor and Ryan O'Meara, Fianna Fáil's three youngest TDs, issued a statement criticising the leadership. They said the social contract is strained to breaking point and that it should not require protests and deep community frustration to get a government to listen and act.
Dolan said the spending website will help politicians and the public make the best decisions. He welcomed the Government's actions in reducing fuel excise but said he wants to see the Government go the distance on home heating oil in the budget, as that is one area where the Government has yet to support people. He expressed hope that this would happen effectively in the budget.
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