Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 695: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the funds spent by his Department since June 1997 on consultants, legal experts and external advice; the number of reports produced under such contracts and the number implemented to date by his Department; the cost of such advice in 2005 and the planned expenditure for 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1532/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for two Votes, Vote 28 — Foreign Affairs and Vote 29 — International Co-operation. The Department commissions consultancies and external advice where specialised knowledge and/or skills are not available within the Department and, particularly in the case of the Development Co-operation Ireland, DCI, programme, where an independent evaluation of programmes and projects is required. I should add that the awarding of the contracts referred to in the following tables is done at official level, and I have had no personal involvement in the process. Details of expenditure on consultancies and legal advice under Votes 28 and 29 are set out in the following tables, Tables A to C.

The Deputy may wish to note that the majority of expenditure on consultancies under Vote 28 during the period in question relates to the upgrading of the Department's information technology infrastructure at headquarters and in our missions abroad, and to the development of an automated passport production system, APS.

Consultancies undertaken by Development Co-operation Ireland under Vote 29 cover a wide range of sectors including HIV/AIDS, education, health and rural development. A high proportion of them concern the monitoring, review and evaluation of development programmes and projects commissioned at headquarters to ensure quality and value for money.

While the Department has engaged legal and other experts to provide advice on policy matters during the period in question, it also sought advice on a range of administrative matters such as contracts, procurement and employment issues at headquarters and at our missions abroad. The Department of Foreign Affairs manages over 100 buildings abroad — residences for heads of mission and chancery offices — and legal advice is routinely sought from locally engaged lawyers on matters such as lease agreements, conveyancing and in undertaking major maintenance and refurbishment work.

As the majority of the consultancies under Vote 28 for the period in question related to expert advice on a variety of technical matters or to representing Ireland at specialised meetings of international bodies, the question of the production of reports with recommendations for implementation did not usually arise. On Vote 29, a report was, in the normal event, produced at the end of each consultancy contract. The recommendations in these reports were implemented, as appropriate, in the developing countries concerned.