John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 320: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount he has spent on hiring or use of outside consultants in 2007, 2008 and 2009 in tabular form; if he is satisfied that this practice represents good value for money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9217/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for two Votes – Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs) and Vote 29 (International Cooperation). The following are the details of expenditure under sub-head A7 (Consultancy) under both Votes in 2007, 2008, and up to 31st December 2009 (provisional outturn):

I am very conscious of the need to achieve value for money on consultancy expenditure. The Department commissions consultancies only where specialised knowledge and/or skills are not available within the Department and, particularly in the case of Irish Aid (Ireland's official development assistance programme), where an independent evaluation of programmes and projects is required. Given the overall scale of the Irish Aid Programme, this level of monitoring, review and evaluation is both prudent and proportionate.