Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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604. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the external consultant reports commissioned by his Department since March 2011 per annum in tabular form; the costs per report; the company involved; the title of the report; and the publication date. [39494/16]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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605. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the details of the use of external public relations firms employed by his Department per annum since March 2011 in tabular form; the list of uses of the external public relations firm; the internal Department policy with regard to employing external groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39510/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 604 and 605 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 yearly, the information for January to June 2016 is currently available and information relating to the second half of 2016 will be available early in 2017.

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/or where it is deemed to add value and independence to the overall work of the Department. Procurement is undertaken in accordance with the Department's procurement policy and procedures manual which provides for the implementation of the national procurement guidelines published at: