Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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452. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the breakdown of the training and development and incidental expenses incurred by his Department in the year ending 31 December 2017. [22132/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the breakdown of the training and development and incidental expenses in respect of my Department for 2017 is as follows:

Training Costs: €1,065,633

This figure includes the cost of providing training to staff in the categories set out in the Table.

Costs incidental to training such as room hire and the purchase of refreshments such as tea and coffee are also included in the figures.

* The Funding of Academic Fees programme involves the provision of funding for staff to pursue academic courses relevant to their employment in the Civil Service.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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453. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the breakdown of the travel and subsistence expenses incurred by his Department in the year ending 31 December 2017. [22148/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General conducts an annual audit of expenditure incurred by Government Departments as part of its Standard Appropriation Account Audit Programme. I can confirm that the audit of the Appropriation Account in respect of my Department is currently underway and once it has been completed, all expenditure items including travel and subsistence expenses will be published.

The breakdown of the travel and subsistence expenses (provisional figures) incurred by my Department in the year ending 31 December 2017 is outlined in the following table.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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454. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the consultancy services, value for money and policy review expenses incurred by his Department in the year ending 31 December 2017. [22164/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the information requested in relation to details of consultancy services for 2017 is outlined in the following table.

My Department seeks to minimise the use of consultants and only engages consultancy companies when particular additional expertise is required for delivery of the services which support the business processes of the Department. Such services are used in areas where the Department does not have the necessary expertise or internal capacity to deliver the services and where it would not make practical, operational or economic sense to build up this capability within the Department.  All contracts are negotiated with a view to achieving best value for money.

In relation to Value for Money (VFM) and Policy Reviews, my Department’s programmes are both carried out internally and did not incur any expenditure on consultancy in 2017.

Year 2017