Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

As for the specific issue of the Equality Authority, Members on all sides, particularly those in the Opposition, have been constantly raising the valid issue of spending on public relations and consultancies. It will do no harm to refer to the 2007 report, which Deputy Rabbitte should have read before coming into the House, on the Equality Authority. In 2007, it spent €220,000 on public relations and €100,000 on consultants. A total of €614,000 was spent on the European Year of Equal Opportunities, half of which came from European funding and half from its own budget, giving a net expenditure of €300,000. It also spent €350,000 on an anti-racist week and €230,000 on a national campaign against ageism, the expenditure on which was criticised by the Opposition in this House. It spent €184,000 on publications and, in effect, €440,000 on rent of premises in Dublin. However, it could make savings by going down and spending only €120,000 on rental accommodation in Roscrea, where 15 employees of the Equality Authority already reside. When Members on the other side of the House raise the issue of consultancies and expenditure, it is valid to go through such expenditure to ascertain where there can be savings.

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