I think you may be underestimating the effort involved somewhat.A central govt agency could have built this site for 5k.
I've no problem with RPS doing the work. To my eyes it's not hidden or obfuscated that they are involved. I would not expect this sort of web development to be done in-house in any Govt agency. I just don't think it should be done at all when it simply duplicates a pre-existing service.
Ok it provides competition then to existing sites and maybe does a better job. It shouldn't be competing with existing sites. It shouldn't be doing a better job. By using a budget which is not driven by the costs involved you can create the fanciest web site around but it's a somewhat pointless exercise.
http://www.Jumbletown.ie and http://www.gumtree.ie have ads to cover the costs of hosting and maintenance. The lack of ads on this site would indicate that Joe Taxpayer will be picking up that (recurring) bill.