Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Estimates for Public Services 2023
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)
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate that. On subhead A4, which deals with consultancy and other services, we see a number of such services. Some €750,000 is allocated to services for the economic and fiscal policy for 2023, which provides for research projects, economic analysis and forecasting. This is consultancy. Subhead B4 includes consultancy and other services on banking and financial services policy, for which €1.3 million is allocated. The Revenue Commissioners have been allocated €2 million for consultancy services and value for money and policy reviews, which is up from €250,000 last year.
Will the Minister clarify the total value of money the Department will spend on external consultancy in 2023? Does he have any concerns or views regarding the ability of the Department to undertake much of this analysis in-house or the value for money achieved for the taxpayer in outsourcing this work?