Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 491: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the amount of expenditure on consultancy by his Department in 2006 and 2007; the numbers of consultants engaged by his Department in those years; the names of the consultancy companies awarded contracts; the steps which have been taken to reduce the expenditure on consultancy and the reliance on consultants by his Department in these years and for the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42575/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The identification of records prior to January 2007 cannot be facilitated without undue commitment of staff resources and administrative cost. However, if the Deputy has a question in relation to a specific item I will make appropriate enquiries. In the following table details of consultants engaged by my Department in 2007 are provided. The table also contains data on Marine consultancies that were undertaken prior to the transfer of fishery functions to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during 2007. The data covers both consultancies incurred under subhead A7 of my Department's Vote as well as consultancies associated with Programme spend.

In general, I would emphasise that Value for Money is a high priority issue. I fully support the efficient and effective use of taxpayers' money and the continuous achievement of Value for Money. My Department continuously seeks to deliver programme and administrative expenditure, as approved each year by the Dáil, in a Value for Money way while meeting the policy objectives underpinning this expenditure.

In light of the current need to achieve savings and efficiencies no area was considered exempt from critical scrutiny. In the 2009 estimates for my Department the funds available for the use of consultants has been reduced accordingly, including a reduction of 37% on the A7 subhead. This will lead to a significant reduction in the number of consultancies by reference to 2007 levels.