Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of comments about the administration subheads. Expenditure on travel and subsistence has increased by 19%; expenditure on post and telecommunications has increased by 36%; and expenditure on consultancy and other services has increased from €25,000 to €112,000. A percentage increase of zero is given, but I do not understand how that reflects the figures, which show an increase. I ask the Minister to shed some light on this expenditure. I note the explanations provided in the document with regard to travel and subsistence expenditure, which is broken down under costs such as ministerial drivers, activities related to EU and World Bank business and other miscellaneous travel. It amounts to an increase of nearly €130,000, which equates to 19%. Ireland held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union last year and many meetings were held here. I expect the Minister and departmental officials had to travel to attend numerous meetings, but it seems that the expected travel expenditure is quite substantial.

The figure for miscellaneous and incidental expenditure has decreased by 4%. However, the provisional outturn shows an increase of €120,000, which means it is intended to spend more this year than was spent last year. I understand this is due to upskilling and training and development for members of staff and also website development costs. How many staff have been involved in this training to date? The Minister explained that the pressure of work on the Irish Presidency last year meant that many staff were unable to participate in training courses at that time. I ask the Minister to comment on that point.

I have a query about the expenditure on consultancy services, which has increased from €25,000 to €112,000. I refer to page ten, which shows that the provisional outturn on this expenditure was zero in 2012 and 2013, meaning there was no expenditure on consultancy. Has a contract been provided to some consultant for €112,000? It would seem that the clear beneficiaries are the consultants under every single administrative heading. I note expenditure on consultancy services under headings A, B, C, D and E of more than €5.1 million. The consultancy costs incurred by Irish Water are the news of the day. I ask how the Department of Finance believes it needs to spend more on consultancy this year than in previous years.