Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide, per annum, all external consultant reports commissioned by his Department since March 2011 in tabular form; the costs per report; the company involved; the title of the report and the publication date. [20353/16]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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303. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide, broken down per annum, the use of external public relations firms employed by his Department since coming into office in tabular form; the external public relations firm used; to outline the internal departmental policy with regard to employing external groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20398/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 301 and 303 together.

Details of external services, including consultancies and public relations firms as requested by the Deputy, are available from my Department's website at the following link.This document is updated twice each year and information relating to the first half of 2016 will be available later this month.

It is the policy of the Department in the exercise of its functions to use internal resources as far as possible. Consultants are hired occasionally in circumstances where particular expertise is not available internally and where it is deemed to add value and independence to the overall work of the Department.