Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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963. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide details of all consultancy firms engaged by his Department during 2014; if he will also provide details of all the relevant fees paid to those firms during the period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1663/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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My Department's expenditure on consultancy services and value for money and policy reviews in 2014 was €1.828m. In procuring these specialised services, my Department always seeks to ensure value for money and the keeping of expenditure to the minimum necessary. Details of expenditure on consultancy services in 2014 are outlined in the following table. In the case of the consultancy projects related to the Corrib gas project, the cost is recouped to the State by the Developers.

Given the technical complexity of the sectors which my Department oversees and, in some instances regulates, there is a requirement to procure specialised services to address specific issues as they arise. The Department therefore also necessarily incurs expenditure on outsourced services as part of programme expenditure, an element of which is consultancy in nature. I will forward the figure for the consultancy element to the Deputy, when it is disaggregated from the larger programme spends.