Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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519. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount spent in fees to companies (details supplied) and to private audit and advisory firms by his Department in each of the years 2011 to 2018. [21589/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department administers a very diverse, complex and technical brief across critical and strategic sectors of the Irish economy. While it has a total complement of around 396 full time equivalent staff of whom a number are technical personnel, the technical, commercial, legal complexity and evolving nature of sectors with which the Department deals requires access to external professional expertise to assist in discharging its functions. In procuring these specialised services, my Department always seeks to ensure value for money and that these services contribute to project delivery and informed, robust and evidence based policy making.

The bulk of the studies are technical and specialist in nature and were necessary to address specific issues as they arose and enable the Department to discharge its policy and project responsibilities in the areas concerned.

Details of expenditure for consultancy services provided to my Department in each year from 2011 to 2018 are set out in the table below. Following contact with your office by officials, expenditure details given include all consultancies provided to the Department across all sectors.