Aiming to improve government transparency, a young Fianna Fáil TD has unveiled a tool allowing the public to search through €108 billion of state expenditure, warning that people “don’t trust” the Government to manage their money.
Writing in a Substack article published earlier this week, Galway East TD Albert Dolan said the project, called StateSpend.ie, would help the State see more clearly where public funds are going and achieve “stronger outcomes” for taxpayers.
He added that the platform was necessary to address growing public concern, citing a recent poll showing that 65% of people lack faith in the Government’s ability to manage state finances.
“Nearly two in three people do not trust the Government to manage the public finances,” said Dolan.
“This poll is a serious warning but not a surprise. People don’t trust the Government to spend their money well.”
The Fianna Fáil backbench TD noted that the government frequently lacks sufficient oversight regarding how financial outlay translates into actual results for the public.
“I cannot fairly conclude from the available evidence that the State spends money badly,” he stated.
“But neither can Government demonstrate, consistently and systematically, that it spends it well.”
Dolan explained that the updated database standardises thousands of publicly available purchase orders and payment reports from government departments, health bodies, and local councils into one searchable location.
“What we were really looking for was the transaction layer beneath the headline totals, as close as we could get publicly to the underlying ledger,” he continued.
The Public Accounts Committee member added that while the platform provides visibility into government purchases, there is still a gap in connecting payments to the original tenders and ultimate outcomes.
“We can see who spent money, who received it, how much was reported and broadly what it was for,” Dolan remarked.
“But we cannot connect that payment to the tender and contract behind it, see how the contract changed, or establish what was ultimately delivered.”
He proposed the creation of a Public Spending Ledger to establish a chain connecting every stage of public procurement expenditure, from tender to final payment.
“The next objective is therefore to create a Golden Thread running through each stage of public procurement expenditure,” he said.
“Once this chain exists, expenditure can then be connected to delivery, performance and ultimately outcomes.”
Dolan argued that improved data collection is necessary for the government to accurately compare costs and leverage its massive buying capabilities.
“The point of spending transparency is not simply to know what we bought,” he claimed.
“It is to give the State the information it needs to buy better next time.”
Dolan first introduced the platform in November 2024, at which point it tracked roughly €25 billion in state disbursements.
When the project officially debuted in October 2025, that figure had expanded to consolidate more than €78.5 billion in public spending data, pulling purchase order records of transactions over €20,000 from more than 190 State entities.
Speaking to Gript at the time of the first full launch last year, the politician said the tool was created to help people understand the public finances.
“What our data set allows people to do is they can use this themselves,” he said.
“It democratises the understanding of the public finances so that the person at home today can understand how money is being spent, where it’s going and what they can anticipate.”
Dolan, who comes from an accounting background, noted last year that government transparency should not be viewed as a negative thing by politicians.
“I’m not concerned with it and I don’t think government sees that as a headache,” he said.
“Government ultimately wants to be efficient, wants to move at speed and wants to see projects delivered.”