Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

In respect of the programmes to which the Chairman has referred, head E is not so bad but there is very significant expenditure under heads C and D on what would appear to be consultant economists, that is, economic experts. While I made this point under a previous head, it repeats itself again here and in his response, the Minister did not really address it. I accept these are important areas and in this case it pertains to corporate tax and agricultural taxes, while the previous examples pertained to small and medium-size enterprises, banking and so on. Under head D, provision is made for the medium-term economic strategy and the common element here is that economic expertise is being bought in at a significant cost. The question the Minister has not answered is, how would it not be cheaper - from his perspective and that of the public - to employ a few economists? I do not see the logic in this regard, because big money is being forked out, including €350,000 with regard the medium-term economic strategy. One would employ an economist to oversee it for a lot less than that. Surely activities such as looking into corporate tax or agricultural taxes are not once-off events? A number of these heads pertain to important areas of policy that should be kept under constant review and should be constantly researched, analysed and looked at. Would it not be cheaper and better value to employ directly a few people who are expert in these areas to advise the Government, rather than incurring large expenditure on consultants?