Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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284. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the breakdown of the training and development and incidental expenses incurred by her Department in the year ending 31 December 2017. [22133/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The total expenditure in Subhead Ad3 of the Department's Vote, Learning and Development and Incidental Expenses, amounted to €1.05 million in 2017.

Learning and Development related expenditure last year amounted to €399k and covered:

- The provision of over 230 training courses attended by 1,280 staff.

- Attendance at various seminars and conferences.

- Payment of fees for a range of third level courses undertaken in their own time by 43 staff of the Department.

The remaining €653k expended covered a wide range of incidental expenses and primarily on items such as: 

- Health & Safety requirements and cleaning materials.

- Room Hire and related costs for hosting various meetings, conferences, seminars across the country.

- Translation & Interpreter Services.

- The Department’s provision to the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) for centralised HR and Payroll services.

- Costs associated with Departmental staff seconded to foreign postings in Brussels, Geneva and London such as removal costs, rental costs and school fees.  

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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285. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the breakdown of the travel and subsistence expenses incurred by her Department in the year ending 31 December 2017. [22149/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A breakdown of the travel and subsistence incurred by my Department, for the year ending 31 December 2017, is detailed for the Deputy in the following table. This is the total for my Department and its Offices only and does not include the Agencies of the Department.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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286. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the consultancy services, value for money and policy review expenses incurred by her Department in the year ending 31 December 2017. [22165/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department spent €1,133,297 on external consultancy, value for money and policy reviews in 2017.

My Department considers hiring external consultants in cases where there is not the necessary expertise to deliver the project in-house, in cases where an external assessment is deemed essential, or in cases where a project must be completed within a short time scale, and although the expertise or experience may be available in-house, performing the task would involve a prohibitive opportunity cost.

In each particular case, criteria specific to the project are used in selecting an outside agency or consultancy, including cost and value for money. Contracts are awarded based on the most economically advantageous tender (specifying, in addition to price, various other criteria including running costs, servicing costs, level of after sales service, technical assistance, technical merit, environmental characteristics).

My Department complies with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's guidelines for engagements of consultants by the civil service, having regard to public procurement guidelines.