Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It is important to mention the context. We are talking about a total spend by Government, throughout all Departments and agencies, of €55 billion. Consultants are required for particular areas of expertise, perhaps for very complex projects and so on. Consultants are employed from time to time to protect the taxpayer's interests. If the figure of €90 million mentioned by the Deputy is correct, in the context of a total spend of €55 billion, that is around 0.1% or 0.2% of total expenditure. In an operation as complex as a modern Government, I do not believe that should be regarded automatically as being out of line with expectations, given the complexity and breadth of the work undertaken by Governments on an ongoing basis.

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