Independent Ireland demands full audit of runaway NGO funding - "Europe cuts NGO funding but Irish Government continue to splurge taxpayers money"

ndependent Ireland Chairperson and TD for Cork North Central, Ken O’Flynn, has blasted the Government for presiding over what he called “a scandalous, wasteful and unaccountable flow of billions to NGOs”, warning that Ireland now spends more on funding non-governmental organisations than almost any other country in Europe — and with far less scrutiny.

Deputy O’Flynn pointed to figures showing that public expenditure on NGOs has ballooned by roughly seven per cent year-on-year, with estimates standing at approximately €11 billion. “At a time when families are struggling to put food on the table, when hospital waiting lists are at record levels, and when young people cannot afford a home, Government is signing blank cheques to NGOs — many of which provide no direct services to the public,” he said.

“The central scandal here is that never before has so much public money been poured into NGOs, and never before has there been so little independent oversight of where it goes. The one body that once tracked and published this spending — Benefacts — was shut down in 2021 and never replaced. That decision was no accident. It was a deliberate move to blind the Irish public to how billions of their euros are being spent.  I say to taxpayers - this your money, this is your hard earned tax money that is being funnelled directly to these organisations and you deserve to know what is being delivered for that money”

Deputy O’Flynn said this lack of transparency represents a fundamental breach of trust between the State and its citizens. “The public purse is not the property of politicians or their favoured NGOs. It belongs to the people. And yet the people have no way of knowing if their sacrifices are funding real services or fuelling waste, duplication, and bureaucracy. That is an insult to every taxpayer in this country.”

He highlighted that over €6 billion of funding is concentrated in roughly 100 large organisations, leaving smaller, community-based groups to “scramble for scraps.” More than 60 per cent of the income of Irish NGOs now comes directly from the taxpayer — and still there is no systematic auditing of outcomes or value for money.

O’Flynn said. “Ireland is out of step with the rest of Europe. While other governments reduce spending and demand accountability, our Government does the opposite: spend more, ask fewer questions, and close down the only independent monitoring body we had. It is disgraceful.”

Independent Ireland has called for the creation of a Department of Efficiency and Reform to perform a full audit of taxpayers’ money spent on NGOs and to ensure proper accountability across all sectors of Government.

“This is not about attacking all NGOs — many do excellent and essential work,” O’Flynn added. “It is about ending the free-for-all. Billions of taxpayers’ money is being funnelled into a system with no transparency, no scrutiny, and no accountability. That cannot continue. It is time for fairness, efficiency, and reform.”