Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department engages consultants (individuals or organisations) to provide intellectual or knowledge based services (e.g. expert analysis and advice) including the delivery of reports, studies, assessments, recommendations and proposals that contribute to decision making or policy making. The Department procures consultancy services only where specialised knowledge and/or skills are not available within the Department or where a particular need arises that cannot be addressed within the resources available.

The procurement of these services is essential to support the Department in providing high quality service to the public in a cost effective and efficient manner and is governed by a comprehensive regulatory, legal and procedural framework. The Department implements strict governance procedures in the procurement of such services.

The majority of expenditure on consultancy expertise is to support the Department in implementing a multi-annual service delivery modernisation and transformation programme involving business process, organisational and technological change. These programmes are supported by the procurement of separate external development services (IT external service provision) as well as engagement of consultants to provide strategic technical advice. Further technical consultancies relate to the on-going development of the Department’s extensive information technology systems. A breakdown of the annual expenditure on consultancy and also IT external service provision for previous years is available on the Department’s website at .

Total expenditure on the engagement of consultants by my Department for the years 2011 to 2014 is set out as follows and details of providers involved are included in the following tables.

It is the Department’s policy to develop and sustain in house expertise, insofar as practicable and that skills transfer from consultants to Departmental staff takes place as an integral part of consultancy engagements. The purpose of this is to increase the knowledge and expertise of Departmental staff and to reduce and, if possible, eliminate further dependence on consultants in the areas concerned. The Department’s information systems division has also put in place training and mentoring programmes that build on the internal capacity and capability to deliver and support solutions on the Department’s information technology platform.

I am satisfied that the engagement of consultants contributes to decision making and policy formulation, and provides valuable support for the Department’s service delivery modernisation and reform programmes, and that procurement of consultants is compliant with best practice in realising value for money.

Year 2014 (provisional)

Year 2013

Year 2012

Year 2011