Are early-day motions a waste of time and money?

From Hansard written answers:

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Leader of the House what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Early Day Motions procedure.

Helen Goodman: The Government’s assessment of the procedures governing Early Day Motions were set out in its July 2007 response to the Procedure Committee’s Report on “Public Petitions and Early Day Motions”.

The Government agreed with the conclusions of the Committee that—while there are some concerns about the number of EDMs—restricting the rules of eligibility for EDMs by reference to subject matter or by imposing a ration for each Member would not be appropriate.

I've seen some truly pathetic EDMs, what do you think?