Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised)
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source
I thank the Minister.
In respect of Vote 7, he has outlined in subheading VII for his Department that it will cover in part the requirement for private consultants. He has allocated €100,000 for policy reviews, consultancy services and research. That figure was €150,000 in 2023.
In a written response to me on 20 April 2023, the Minister informed me that his Department had spent €5 million on private consultants, including over €1 million for KPMG alone. How can you reconcile the small figures presented as part of the Revised Estimates each year and the higher figures that we see in practice? Are there subheads where generalist consultancy firm services could be included? It is very difficult for us to see exactly how much is spent on consultants across the board and what these consultants actually do.
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