Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of external reports and reviews commissioned by State agencies and boards under his remit in 2008, 2009 and to date in 2010; if he will name each report and review; the spending on external reports and reviews in each of those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43507/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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There were 160 external reports or reviews commissioned by bodies under the aegis of my Department in the period in question . Details of the reports or reviews commissioned are contained in the following tables

National Treasury Management Agency ( Inclusive of State Claims Agency, National Development Finance Agency, National Pension Reserve Fund and National Asset Management Agency) 2008 National Treasury Management Agency

2009

2010

National Pension Reserve Fund Commission

2008

2009

2010

*These reports were commissioned at the request of the Minister for Finance in the context of the State's preference share investment through the National Pensions Reserve Fund in Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks plc.

**Commercial confidentiality provisions in the relevant contracts preclude the publication of the fees paid in respect of these individual reports. However, the total costs (ex VAT) in respect of the 9 reports referred to above are €3,131,330

Special EU Programmes Body

The Cost in relation to the reports and reviews carried out by the Special EU Programmes Body listed below would have been jointly funded by the European Union, the Department of Finance and the Department of Finance and Personnel. The majority of the Reports and Reviews were commissioned for the INTERREG IVA and PEACE III European Structural Funds Programmes. The EU funds 75% of INTERREG IVA programme costs and 67.5% of the PEACE III Programme costs, with Ireland and the United Kingdom providing the remaining funding.

The Special EU Programmes Body is responsible for the management of the PEACE III and INTERREG IVA Programmes which value some €333m and €256m respectively. In line with public expenditure requirements and as agreed with Accountable Departments, all applicants seeking funding under the Programmes are subject to a robust and defined assessment process. All applications meeting the basic eligibility criteria and seeking funding of over £500,000 will automatically be subject to a full Economic Appraisal (EA). These appraisals make up the majority of external reports and reviews commissioned by the Special EU Programmes Body.

Please note that there are a number of instances where a contract has been awarded to a provider for completion of a block of Economic Appraisals. Detail on the individual Economic Appraisals contained within these contracts is not available within the required timeframes but can be provided upon request.

The information presented is based on the Special EU Programmes Body Consultant Register as at 16 November 2010 and costs outlined within Tables 1-3 are based on the total costs stipulated at the time of award of contract. Should a contract complete under budget, this will not be reflected within the Tables. The Special EU Programmes Body appraisals make up the majority of external reports and reviews commissioned by Special EU Programmes Body.

Please note that there are a number of instances where a contract has been awarded to a provider for completion of a block of Economic Appraisals. Detail on the individual Economic Appraisals contained within these contracts is not available within the required timeframes but can be provided upon request.

The information presented is based on the Special EU Programmes Body Consultant Register as at 16 November 2010 and costs outlined within Tables 1-3 are based on the total costs stipulated at the time of award of contract. Should a contract complete under budget, this will not be reflected within the Tables. The Special EU Programmes Body estimates that the number of contracts to which this applies is negligible. Should however, further costs be incurred on a contract, these will be described as Annex Bs within Tables 1-3. Table 1: External Reports and Reviews Conducted by SEUPB in 2008

Table 2: External Reports and Reviews Conducted by SEUPB in 2009

Table 3: External Reports and Reviews Conducted by SEUPB in 2010

Anglo Irish Bank

Consultancy charges outside the normal course of business in 2009 and 2010 ( cash out basis and to Sept 2010) were as follows:

* other includes special items primarily consists of consultants hired to assist with the restructuring plans and NAMA related valuation costs.

Central Bank of Ireland

In addition to the reports listed above a number of reports or reviews were carried out by external parties on behalf of the central bank of Ireland (including the Financial Regulator for pre – October 2010) in the period 2008 to date in 2010. Details of the reports are included in the following tables:

2008

2009

2010

In addition the consultative consumer and industry panels commissioned reports in 2008 to date in 2010. The reports cost €114,836 in 2008, €4,860 in 2009 and €4,599 in 2010.