Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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301. To ask the Minister for Finance if he and bodies under his aegis have engaged private investigation companies or persons in the past three years to date; and if so, the cost, duration and purpose of these engagements of this type of contractor. [25824/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Mazars are party to a framework agreement to investigate protected disclosures for all Government Departments which was established by the Office of Government Procurement. Since 21 May 2020, my Department has engaged Mazars to investigate a protected disclosure received by the Minister for Finance from a person external to the Department. The cost of this investigation to date is €53,088.74 (incl. VAT).

The National Treasury Management Agency, which is under the aegis of my Department, is designated as the State Claims Agency (SCA) when performing the claims management and risk management functions designated to it under the National Treasury Management Agency Act 1990, as amended. The statutory mandate of the SCA is to manage claims in such a manner as to ensure that the State’s liability is contained at the lowest achievable level. The Agency, in a very small number of claims, engages private investigators where the circumstances of those cases are such that they merit particular investigation. The Agency also uses private investigators to serve witness summonses. Only those Private Security Authority (PSA) Licensed private investigators who have signed the Agency’s surveillance protocol agreement and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) agreement are engaged by the SCA. Details of Private Investigation Firms, including total payments made to each from 1 January 2018 to date, are in the attached table.